Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Rome, images broadcast early Saturday by Iranian state television showed, where he was set to join Oman-mediated talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The meeting comes a week after the two sides conducted what Iran called indirect talks in Muscat. Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.
Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
In March he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while warning of military action if diplomacy failed.
On Friday Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their intentions.
In a social media post early on Saturday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran was “aware that it is not a smooth path but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on the past experiences”.
In an interview published on Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb.
Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump's withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.
Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.
The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year.
Grossi, who held talks with Iranian officials during a visit to Tehran this week, said the US and Iran were “at a very crucial stage” in the talks and “don’t have much time” to secure a deal.
Iranian officials have insisted that the talks only focus on its nuclear programme and lifting of sanctions.
Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran's ballistic missile programme as well as Tehran's support for militants in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the country's military capabilities were off limits in the discussions.
On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to prevent this.
Khamenei on Tuesday said Iranians should not pin hopes on progress in the negotiations which “may or may not yield results.”
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