Ali Larijani, a leading adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Secretary of Supreme National Security Council, met Oman's Sultan Haitham in Muscat on Tuesday, days after indirect US-Iranian talks were held there.
Sultan Haitham and Mr Larijani discussed “the latest developments in the Iran-US negotiations” on Tehran's nuclear programme “as well as ways to reach a balanced and fair agreement between the two sides”, Oman News Agency reported.
They stressed the importance of returning to dialogue and the negotiating table to bring views closer and resolve differences in peaceful ways to establish peace and security in the region and the world, the agency said.
Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that the talks were held “in a positive and constructive atmosphere”.
Tensions have been simmering between the US and Iran for weeks. The US sent an “armada” to the Middle East in response to a government crackdown on protests in Iran. Concerns are high that Washington could launch another attack on Tehran.
On Friday, the two sides held discussions on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme. US President Donald Trump described the talks in Oman as “very good” and added that negotiations would continue this week.
Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme. The process broke down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.
Tehran has since said it has halted enrichment activity. The US views enrichment as a possible pathway to nuclear bombs, but Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
The US wants to include Iran's ballistic missile arsenal in the negotiations, but Tehran has ruled this out.
Mr Larijani has served in several senior influential positions under Mr Khamenei, including speaker of parliament from 2008 to 2020 and chief negotiator in past international negotiations on Iran's nuclear activity.
