US Vice President Vance will be in Rome during second round of talks - BBG

A former Iranian intelligence minister and currently a presidential aide said Trump prioritizes a legacy of peace over war, suggesting that military conflict between the two nations is unlikely.

"In the previous meeting with some officials, it was said that the smell of war is in the air, but I said there would be no war," Mahmoud Alavi said.

Alavi added, "Trump seeks to stand out on the international political stage, but not as a war hero; rather, his goal is to build an image of himself as a peace hero.”

"Trump is trying to extract many concessions from Iran, but God willing, the negotiations will proceed correctly, and this anxiety will be removed from the people so that the country can achieve calm, and businesses can operate with more motivation and confidence."

Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi will arrive in Tehran on Wednesday, according to Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for international affairs.

Earlier the Wall Street Journal reported that Grossi will visit Tehran this week ahead of the next round of US-Iran talks on Saturday.

Read this to know everything about the Iran nuclear crisis.

Negotiations in Oman have drawn criticism from Israel and foreign media, said a member of Iran’s parliament, who accused them of seeking the failure of the talks.

“Israel is furious about the Oman talks and doesn’t want them to succeed,” Ahmad Anaraki told semi-official ISNA news outlet on Monday.

He said Israel and sanctions profiteers fear losing influence if diplomacy yields results, adding, “They want to prolong chaos and the current situation.”

Fars News Agency, affiliated with Revolutionary Guards, contradicted a report by Axios regarding a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat.

Citing an unnamed informed source, Fars reported that the conversation occurred at the end of negotiations, lasted only a few minutes, and was proposed by the Omani side.

This account contrasts with an Axios report which, citing a source with knowledge of the talks, said that the two lead negotiators spoke for approximately 45 minutes on Saturday – a duration longer than publicly disclosed.

The Axios source described this dialogue, the highest-level between US and Iranian officials in eight years, as "substantive, serious and excellent."

Another media outlet linked to IRGC, Tasnim, also quoted an informed source as reporting that the second phase of negotiations will definitely be held with Oman's presence and mediating role, and emphasized that comments about the Iran-US negotiations becoming direct are not correct.

Tasnim added the country where the negotiations will be held geographically has not yet been finalized, rejecting another part of the Axios scoop about Rome will be the venue of the next weekend's meeting.

The United States has shown interest in investing in Iran and committed to implementing any future agreement reached in nuclear talks, Iran’s deputy foreign minister told lawmakers on Sunday.

“We should neither get overly excited nor disappointed during the negotiations. However, the American side did express interest in investing in Iran and said that they are serious about resolving the issue,” Majid Takht-e Ravanchi said at a closed-door briefing to the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on recent negotiations in Muscat.

“They said they are serious and not seeking war,” Takht-e Ravanchi said, according to the committee’s spokesperson. “They emphasized that if we reach an agreement, they will adhere to it.”