Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will on Saturday negotiate indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.
Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former US president Barack Obama.
Araqchi has arrived in Rome, according to a post on his Telegram account.
He said in Moscow on Friday that Iran believed reaching an agreement on its nuclear program with the US was possible as long as Washington was realistic.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson in a post on X said Tehran had "always demonstrated, with good faith and a sense of responsibility, its commitment to diplomacy as a civilised way to resolve issues".
"We are aware that it is not a smooth path but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on past experiences," Esmaeil Baghaei said in the post.
Tehran has, however, sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal, after some Iranian officials speculated that sanctions could be lifted soon.
Iran's utmost authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week he was "neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic".
For his part, Trump told reporters on Friday: "I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific."
Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Trump, who ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers during his first term in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on the country since returning to the White House in January.
Washington wants Iran to halt production of highly enriched uranium, which it believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb.
Tehran, which has always maintained its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to negotiate some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions, but wants watertight guarantees that Washington will not renege again.
