Iran and the United States will hold a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to settle their decades-long rift over Tehran's atomic aims.
This is under the shadow of President Donald Trump's threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will negotiate indirectly through mediators from Oman, a week after a first round in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.
Tehran is said to have sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal, after some Iranian officials speculated that sanctions could be lifted soon.
This week, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he was neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic.
On 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.”
The Republican, 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 Iran since his second return to the White House on January 20.
Washington wants Iran to halt production of highly enriched uranium, which it believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb.
According to Tehran, which has always said its nuclear programme is peaceful, it is willing to negotiate some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions, but wants watertight guarantees that Washington will not renege again as Trump did in 2018.
Since 2019, Iran has reportedly breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal's limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy programme.
Iran also rejects negotiating about defence capabilities such as missiles.
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, there is still a wide gap between them on the dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
Last week, Witkoff and Araqchi interacted briefly at the end of the first round last week, it was gathered that officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015, and Iran said the Rome talks would also be held indirectly through the Omani mediators.
