Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, second left, with his delegation after the Iran and US negotiations in Muscat, Oman, on April 12. EPA
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, second left, with his delegation after the Iran and US negotiations in Muscat, Oman, on April 12. EPA
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, second left, with his delegation after the Iran and US negotiations in Muscat, Oman, on April 12. EPA
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, second left, with his delegation after the Iran and US negotiations in Muscat, Oman, on April 12. EPA

Second round of US-Iran nuclear talks to take place in Oman, Tehran says


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A second round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran will continue to be held in Oman's capital Muscat, Iran's state news agency Irna said on Monday, quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei.

Tehran and Washington have said they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene this week.

"The Foreign Ministry spokesman announced that Muscat will once again host this round," Irna reported on X.

Confirmation of the venue comes after Italy earlier on Monday had said it was asked to host the next phase of talks led by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

They agreed to meet again a week later in a sign of easing tension after months of escalating rhetoric and US President Donald Trump threatening to bomb Iran if it did not agree to a deal.

Mr Trump on Monday said that Iran must abandon any push for a nuclear weapon or face harsh consequences that could include a military strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities.

When asked if a potential response could include strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Mr Trump said: “Of course it does”.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday the talks scheduled for next weekend would remain "indirect" with Omani mediation, and be focused solely on the nuclear issue and end of sanctions. Before then, Mr Araghchi will visit Russia to discuss the "latest developments" on the talks.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, centre, claimed Rome would be the venue for the US-Iran talks, as he visited the Osaka Expo 2025 in Japan. EPA
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, centre, claimed Rome would be the venue for the US-Iran talks, as he visited the Osaka Expo 2025 in Japan. EPA

Mr Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers including Russia, Britain and France in 2018, during his first term as US president.

Saturday's negotiations came weeks after Mr Trump sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Iran refuses.

On board Air Force One, Mr Trump said he had met with advisers to discuss Iran and anticipated a swift outcome. But he did not elaborate. “We'll be making a decision on Iran very quickly,” he said.

Mr Trump has made it a priority to curb Iran’s nuclear programme and ensure it never builds an atomic weapon − something Tehran denies it wants to do.

Meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Monday that he will travel to Tehran this week to discuss co-operation on the country's nuclear programme.

"Continued engagement and co-operation with the agency are essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed," Mr Grossi said in a post on X. According to a diplomatic source, his visit is expected to take place on Thursday.

The biog

Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives. 

The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast. 

As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau

He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker. 

If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah

 

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Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.

Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.

Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.

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Armies of Sand

By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
 

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: April 15, 2025, 7:48 AM