Agencies Tehran

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has confirmed that the next round of indirect talks with the United States will be held in Oman on Sunday, adding the Omani side is expected to announce the time to start the negotiations. 

He made the remarks in an interview with Shahrara newspaper on the sidelines of his visit to the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Friday, while commenting on the Omani-mediated talks with the United States on Tehran's nuclear program and the removal of Washington's sanctions.

Meanwhile, the United States has delivered a stern warning to Iran ahead of high-level nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Oman, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff stating that if the discussions are not productive, "then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route." In an interview on Friday, Witkoff revealed that a previous round of talks was foregone last week to ensure "certain understandings" with Iran were reached for discussions to be useful. 

Araghchi said, "Our Omani friends asked our opinion about setting the next meeting date on Sunday, and we announced our consent. Apparently, they have spoken to the other side, and up to this moment, the negotiations are scheduled to be held on Sunday."

The minister added that although Iran's positions in the negotiations were principled and fixed, the US side was sending contradictory messages, emphasising that Iran would insist upon its "clear" positions, reports Xinhua news agency. During the interview, Araghchi noted that he would visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, adding that he would hold consultations on regional issues and Iran-US indirect talks in Riyadh and take part in the Iran-Arab World Dialogue summit in Doha.