MUSCAT/TEHRAN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Iran have expressed "a shared aspiration to reach an agreement based on mutual respect and enduring commitments" during their latest round of indirect talks in Muscat, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi said Saturday.
In a statement issued on the social media platform X, Albusaidi said that "core principles, objectives, and technical concerns" were discussed thoroughly in the Omani-mediated talks, adding that negotiations are set to continue next week and that a further high-level meeting is provisionally scheduled for May 3.
The two delegations, headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, respectively, started the dialogue earlier Saturday, following an expert-level technical discussion between the two sides on the same day in Muscat.
The talks touched upon the details regarding the two sides' demands and expectations from one another, Iran's state-run IRIB TV reported.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran insists on its principled positions on sanctions relief in the indirect talks with Washington, according to a statement released by the ministry.
Baghaei also expressed Iran's readiness to "build trust about the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program."
He added that any potential agreement must respect Iran's "legitimate" rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and assure an end to the sanctions against Tehran.
Baghaei noted that the talks unfolded in a "serious" atmosphere, as the two delegations were positioned in separate rooms and exchanged views through Oman, like in the previous two rounds of dialogue.
Ahead of the talks, U.S. President Donald Trump told Time magazine, "I think we're going to make a deal with Iran," while repeating his threat of "a war with Iran" if talks falter.
Iran, for its part, has maintained that all sanctions on it should be lifted in a way that benefits the Iranian people and emphasized that Tehran would not negotiate on its right to enrich uranium, which it called "among the red lines."
Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
However, the United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018 during Trump's first term and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the nuclear deal have not achieved substantial progress.
Oman has been facilitating the dialogue between the two sides to help narrow differences and promote regional stability. With Omani mediation, the first round of Iran-U.S. talks was held in Muscat on April 12 and the second round a week later in Rome. Enditem
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