US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that Washington and Tehran were poised to begin direct talks in Oman on Saturday over Iran's nuclear program, warning the Islamic Republic would be in "great danger" if the talks were unsuccessful.
The announcement caused some confusion because Iran had said the talks would be indirect with the Omanis acting as mediators.
Iran, previously stating it wouldn't be bullied into negotiations, said the US should value this decision despite "their prevailing confrontational hoopla."
"We intend to assess the other side's intent and resolve this Saturday," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X.
Iran's state media said the talks would be led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with the intermediation of Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.
"Important and practical" Iranian proposals have been prepared in pursuit of "a real and fair" agreement, Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a post on X.
"If Washington comes to the talks with sincere intentions and genuine will to reach an agreement, the path to a deal will be clear and smooth," Shamkhani added.
Shamkhani said the foreign minister was heading to neighbouring Oman with "full authority" for indirect talks.
The US and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the nuclear agreement in 2018, calling it the "worst deal ever".
Iran and the US, under President Joe Biden, held indirect negotiations in Vienna in 2021 aimed at restoring the nuclear deal. But those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations, failed to reach any agreement.
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