Iran’s government confirmed that the foreign ministry received messages related to possible negotiations, following reports in foreign media that Washington had conveyed a proposal to restart nuclear talks through Oman.
Tehran had received messages concerning the talks, Fatemeh Mohajerani, spokeswoman for President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration, said on Sunday, but declined to identify the sender or disclosing any further details.
“Details about the nature and content of the messages will be provided at the appropriate time,” she told reporters.
Her remarks came after the Iraqi news outlet Baghdad Al-Youm, citing diplomatic sources in Tehran, reported on Friday that a message transmitted to Muscat expressed Washington’s willingness to resume nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
The US president Donald Trump had expressed his determination to reach a new agreement with Iran, the report said.
However, Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, quoted an informed source on Saturday denying the report and saying that “no message has been sent by the United States through Oman.”
Oman and Qatar urge return to diplomacy
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, speaking on Saturday at Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain, said his country hoped to return to negotiations between Iran and the United States. Oman has hosted five rounds of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington this year.
The planned sixth round in June, Al-Busaidi said, was halted after Israel’s attacks on Iran.
“Three days before the sixth round of talks was set to take place in June, Israel unleashed its bombs and missiles in an illegal and deadly act of sabotage,” he said.
The negotiations aimed at a new accord that would limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Western governments, including the United States, have accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists its program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Qatari prime minister and foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on October 29 that Doha was working to bring both sides back to a new agreement.
“We are trying to engage with the United States and with the Iranians to make sure that the talks come back on track between the two countries, because I believe once we have the talks started, we can achieve an agreement,” Al Thani said at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York.
“We can achieve a deal that will be better for everyone. For us in the region, for Iran, and for the United States,” Al Thani said. “Iran is my neighbor... for me, the stability of Iran is key. It’s not a luxury... it’s very important.”
Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which had imposed strict limits on uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. In September, the United Nations reimposed its arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
