Iran Says Oman Will Continue As Venue For Nuclear Talks Though Italy Previously Said It Would Host

By RFE/RL April 14, 2025

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on April 14 said a second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran will be held in Oman, contradicting an earlier statement from Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani that the talks will be held in Rome.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted by Iranian state news agency IRNA as saying that it was decided that Muscat will continue to host the talks and the second round will be on April 19.

Tajani said earlier on April 14 that Italy received the request from the interested parties and announced that Rome would be the venue.

"We are ready to welcome, as always, meetings that can bring positive results, in this case on the nuclear issue," Tajani told reporters during a trip to Osaka, Japan.

"Rome confirms itself as a capital of peace and mediation," Tajani said. "We will continue to support all negotiations that can lead to resolving the nuclear issue, but also to building peace."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi also said the next round of talks would happen in Rome in comments to his Iraqi counterpart, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

Tehran and Washington have said the first round of talks was "positive" and "constructive."

In a surprise development, Araqchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met briefly after the talks in Oman ended, adding to optimism relations between the two countries have taken a step forward.

Tehran also confirmed that Araqchi will visit Moscow ahead of the next round of talks.

Separately, Iran confirmed on April 13 that Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will travel to Iran on April 16.

US President Donald Trump has said he wants to ensure Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and wants a deal that leads to the lifting of sanctions that have battered its economy.

Trump has said that in the absence of a deal, there will be military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, with potential Israeli involvement.

Estimates suggest Iran could enrich sufficient uranium for a single bomb in less than a week and enough for several bombs within a month.

Meanwhile, the EU on April 13 introduced sanctions on seven Iranian prison and judicial officials over Tehran's detention of nationals from the bloc.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the sanctions were in response to Iran's "state-sponsored hostage-taking" of European citizens.

On Iran's nuclear program, she said there was a need for a swift resolution because the October deadline to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran was is approaching.

European powers have warned Iran that they will trigger the 2015 nuclear deal's "snapback mechanism" to reimpose UN sanctions if it fails to reach a new deal with the United States.

With reporting by AP and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-us-nuclear-talks-italy -rome-witkoff-trump/33384657.html

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Iran Says Oman Will Continue As Venue For Nuclear Talks Though Italy Previously Said It Would Host