Iran confirms Muscat to host second round of nuke talks with US

"Following consultations, it was decided that Muscat continues to be the host of the second round of the negotiations, which are scheduled to be held on Saturday," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei as saying on Tuesday.

In the first round of Muscat talks on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi engaged in "indirect" discussions with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, facilitated by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi. These talks focused on Iran's nuclear programme and the potential removal of US sanctions.

The talks in Muscat followed US President Donald Trump's statement in early March that he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders, delivered through the United Arab Emirates, proposing negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, Xinhua news agency reported. Iran later agreed on indirect talks.

Iran signed a nuclear deal in July 2015 with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Under the deal, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

However, Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the deal in May 2018 during his first term, and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to scale back its commitments under the deal. Since then, efforts to revive the nuclear agreement have made little progress.

On Monday, Italy had signalled that the new round of talks between the United States and Iran on Tehran's nuclear programme will be held in Rome.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani noted that Italy has agreed to host the meeting following requests from the negotiating parties and Oman, which is serving as a mediator.

Tajani made the remarks while visiting the Italian pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Ansa news agency reported.

He added that the Italian government is "prepared to do everything necessary to support negotiations that could lead to resolving the nuclear issue and building peace."

Earlier in the day, Iran said that the next round of "indirect" talks with the United States over its nuclear programme will take place outside Oman, though the structure and mediation of the negotiations will remain unchanged.

According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, Tehran does not consider the location of the talks to be as significant as the framework in which they are held. He indicated that the discussions will continue to be conducted indirectly, with Oman maintaining its mediating role.

Baghaei said Muscat will coordinate the new venue for the upcoming round and expressed appreciation for Oman's role in hosting the initial phase of negotiations.

Baghaei also dismissed the possibility of direct engagement with Washington, saying Iran does not view that format as effective. He said indirect talks are not unusual, and have been used previously in dealings between the two countries.