Baku, TurkicWorld
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to hold another round of talks next week over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Iranian state TV reported, as they ended their second round of negotiations in Rome over their decades-long standoff, TurkicWorld reports citing Al-Awsat.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff negotiated indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.
Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former US President Barack Obama.
Araqchi, in a meeting with his Italian counterpart ahead of the talks, said Iran had always been committed to diplomacy and called on "all parties involved in the talks to seize the opportunity to reach a reasonable and logical nuclear deal".
"Such an agreement should respect Iran's legitimate rights and lead to the lifting of unjust sanctions on the country while addressing any doubts about its nuclear work," Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.
He said in Moscow on Friday that Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear program with the US is possible as long as Washington is realistic.
"Rome becomes the capital of peace and dialogue," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X. "I encouraged (Araqchi) to follow the path of negotiation against nuclear arms. The hope of the Italian government is that all together may find a positive solution for the Middle East."
For his part, Trump told reporters on Friday: "I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific."
