Iran live updates: US officials say negotiations with Iran to resume

A U.S. official said that the question of nuclear dust "still very much is on the table" -- using a phrase to describe Iran's highly enriched uranium that remains covered in rubble after U.S. airstrikes.

"Either they're going to give us the nuclear dust or we have very low-cost military options to ensure that it remains buried underground forever," one U.S. official said.

The U.S. official later added that the nuclear materials are key to the deal.

"We have a lot of options if they resist giving the dust. There are continued military, diplomatic, economic leverage points. That's my point there, is that the United States fundamentally has the cards. We want the dust," the U.S. official said.

"But I want to be clear here that if we don't get the dust, we do not have a deal with Iran," the U.S. official said.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Senior U.S. officials say that the U.S. is demanding that Iran issue a public statement that "acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open and they're not shooting at ships anymore."

A U.S. official said that one of the key results they're expecting out of talks set for Saturday is that Iran will agree that the Strait of Hormuz will be open in the same way it was before the conflict.

"And we are expecting that as a result of the meeting in Oman tomorrow, that that will be their position. And if it's not their position, then it's not going to be a great day for them," the official later added.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddard

Senior U.S. officials say negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are set to continue after Iranian officials privately acknowledged firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz was a "mistake."

"They have come back to us and asked for further talks to try to settle some of the issues," the official said. "We are hoping to get to a place where they publicly say that they will stop shooting at ships and sort of explicitly or at least implicitly acknowledging that they screwed up. We're working on that now."

The senior U.S. official later added, "So they came back to the table and said, 'We screwed up. We made a mistake. Let's keep talking.'"

The U.S. official added that Trump "has directed" teams to talk but added if Iran "keep on shooting at ships or if they engage in any other hostile act, then we're going to hit them back."

The other U.S. official also offered insight into those strikes on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it came from "an errant part" of the Iranian system that "was trying to undermine the deal."

Another official noted that the strikes illustrated the fractured Iranian political system.

"We have a lot of options if the hardliners get the upper hand. But we continue to have some confidence that the rational people in their system will be able to rein in those hardliners. You never know. You can't predict the future," the U.S. official said.

Despite those increased hostilities, a different senior U.S. official said that they think, "Iran is showing a lot of signs of wanting to make this deal."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Editor's note: This post has been updated

In response to Iran launching missiles at ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration is increasing its financial pressure on Iran, slapping new sanctions on an individual that it claims is responsible for amassing Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's fortune.

The Treasury Department said it is taking action against Ali Ansari, who allegedly helped Khamenei divert public funds into his own wealth and wealth for Iranian regime "elite."

In its press release about the move, the Treasury said the action comes after "Iran’s resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."

The Treasury Department said Ansari used his position as the director of a now-sanctioned bank to "overextend loans and embezzle billions of dollars from the Iranian people until the Iranian government forced the bank’s dissolution in mid-October 2025." The administration also alleged that Ansari "was using his publicly funded wealth to simultaneously expand an overseas business empire on behalf of Mojtaba Khamenei."

The administration also took action against Iranian currency exchange houses and their leaders who they say facilitated billions of dollars' worth of transactions of foreign currency on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks.

“The so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles. Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system. We will preserve these assets for the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart