DUBAI, May 5. /TASS/. Tehran is ready to continue indirect talks with Washington on the settlement of the crisis over Iran's nuclear program and expects the date and place of the next meeting from Oman, acting as a mediator, the Islamic republic's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.
"The postponement of the next round of consultations scheduled for May 3 was initiated by the mediator with the consent of both sides. <...> As for the future of these talks, Iran is awaiting messages from Oman. Our Omani friends will agree on the time and place, and will brief us in a timely manner," he said during a press conference.
Baghaei said Tehran has already demonstrated that it is committed to a diplomatic path for resolving all issues related to its nuclear program. "If the US wants Iran not to have nuclear weapons and acts with honesty, many issues can be resolved," the Iranian diplomat added.
The United States and Iran, mediated by Oman, have held three rounds of talks to resolve the crisis over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. The first round took place on April 12 in Muscat, the second on April 19 in Rome, and the third on April 26, again in Muscat. The Iranian delegation to the talks is led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while the US delegation is headed by US special envoy Steven Witkoff.
On May 1, Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said that the next round of US-Iran talks, which had been scheduled for May 3, was postponed "for logistical reasons."
Iranian nuclear deal
Iran and a group of international mediators comprising the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the US signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. The pact ended a crisis that began in 2004 when Western countries accused Tehran of developing nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement during his first term.
Previous US leader Joe Biden repeatedly expressed his willingness to bring the US back into the nuclear deal. The United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States have been negotiating with Iran since April 2021 to restore the JCPOA to its original form, but the efforts have been fruitless.
The talks in Muscat and Rome marked the first high-level contacts between officials of the two countries since 2022. They are intended to resolve the long-standing dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he is prepared to resort to force if the Islamic republic refuses to rejoin the deal.