The Trump administration has named senior State Department official Michael Anton to lead the U.S. technical team in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, according to two U.S. officials, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran's nuclear programme on Tuesday with the visiting leader of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, a Kremlin official was quoted as saying.

Former foreign ministry official says the talks are a “litmus test” for diplomacy and “an opportunity for both sides to gauge each other’s positions beyond media narratives and rhetoric.”

The Trump administration is prepared to allow Iran to have a civil nuclear program that relies exclusively on imported nuclear fuel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, outlining a possible compromise with Tehran aimed at preventing it from building a nuclear weapon.

However, Iran has already made clear that its right to enrich uranium is not negotiable. When asked about Rubio's comments, a senior Iranian official, close to Iran's negotiating team, again said on Wednesday "zero enrichment is unacceptable.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran must give up all nuclear enrichment if it wants to make a deal during talks with the Trump administration and head off the threat of armed conflict