Saudi defense minister arrives in Tehran ahead of Iran-US talks

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman arrived in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with officials, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, in a visit ahead of weekend talks between Iran and the United States over the Iranian nuclear program.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, the highest-level Iranian-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.

Iran and the United States separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive”.

The negotiations came weeks after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.

Russia, a close ally of Iran, and China have held discussions with Iran in recent weeks over its nuclear programme.

Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe”.

Another round of talks between Iran and the United States is scheduled for Saturday, April 19.

Iran has yet to confirm the location, but the Dutch foreign minister and diplomatic sources said that the upcoming discussions would be held in the Italian capital.

Earlier, Iran and the U.S. held talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week, the Iranian side said, a dialogue meant to address Tehran’s escalating nuclear programmed with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on his Telegram channel that his delegation had a brief encounter with its U.S. counterpart, headed by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, after they exited the indirect talks mediated by Oman.