Teheran says next round of talks again in Muscat

ROME — Talks between Iran and the United States over Teheran's nuclear program appeared ready to leave the Middle East on Monday, as an Italian source and others said the next round of negotiations would take place in Rome. But early on Tuesday, Iran insisted the next round would again be held in Muscat, the capital of Oman.

It wasn't immediately clear where the negotiations would be held after Teheran's overnight announcement. US officials have not said where the talks would be held. US President Donald Trump separately complained on Monday about the pace of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran — as the two countries start a new round of pivotal negotiations.

"I think they're tapping us along," he said in the Oval Office during a meeting with El Salvador's president.

According to a source in the Italian government who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press, the next meeting was expected to take place in Rome on Saturday. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also signaled the talks would take place there.

Then early on Tuesday, the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying the talks would continue in Oman. Easter Sunday will be in this coming weekend, a major holiday in Rome which surrounds Vatican City, the home of the Roman Catholic Church.

"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 semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted Baghaei as saying.

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister is to visit Russia this week to discuss the negotiations with the US, ahead of a new round of talks.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that a diplomatic agreement with Iran will depend on working out details around verification of the country's uranium enrichment and weapons programs.

"This is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization," Witkoff said in an interview on Fox News' Hannity. "That includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there, and it includes the trigger for a bomb."

The first round of talks took place in Oman over the past weekend.

The talks will follow a visit to Iran by International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi later this week. "Continued engagement and cooperation with the agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed," Grossi wrote on X.

Agencies Via Xinhua