TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Sunday described the fourth round of the Omani-mediated Iran-U.S. indirect talks held in Oman's capital Muscat as "difficult but useful."
"The fourth round of indirect Iran-U.S. negotiations is concluded; difficult but useful talks to better understand each other's positions and to find reasonable and realistic ways to address the differences," Baghaei wrote on social media platform X.
He said the next round of talks "will be coordinated and announced by Oman."
Meanwhile, the AFP news agency quoted an anonymous senior U.S. official as saying that the fourth round went "positively," and that the U.S. side is "encouraged by today's outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future."
Earlier in the day, Baghaei wrote in another post that Iran is "firmly determined to pursue its inalienable lawful rights for peaceful uses of nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty while fully prepared to continue its diplomatic engagement to ensure the already demonstrated peaceful nature of its nuclear program."
"We are equally resolved to work for termination of unlawful and inhuman sanctions that have long been imposed on our people," he added.
The delegations of Iran and the United States held the first and third rounds of talks in Muscat on April 12 and April 26, and the second one in Rome on April 19.
Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. Under the deal, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
The United States, led by President Donald Trump during his first term, unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to gradually reduce compliance with its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the agreement have not achieved substantial progress. ■
