Iran and the United States have agreed to hold another round of talks about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program next week. 

With Oman’s mediation, the first round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the US concluded in the Omani capital of Muscat.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Steve Witkoff, the US President’s Special Envoy for Middle East Affairs, led the negotiations on Saturday.

In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the sides exchanged views about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, particularly the removal of “illegal” sanctions against Iran.

It added that the negotiations were held in a “constructive atmosphere and based on mutual respect.”

“At the end of more than two and a half hours of indirect negotiations, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes as they were leaving the venue of the talks in the presence of the Omani foreign minister,” the ministry said.

On the sidelines of the talks, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told IRIB News in Muscat that Iran has one “very clear” objective in the talks: to secure its national interests.

“We are giving diplomacy a sincere and honest opportunity so that through these negotiations, we can advance not only the nuclear issue but more importantly for us, the issue of lifting sanctions,” Baghaei said.

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