File Photo: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a news conference in Tehran. AFP
Araghchi "left Tehran for Geneva late Sunday heading a diplomatic and technical delegation to conduct the second round of nuclear talks and hold a number of diplomatic consultations," the ministry said in a statement.
"Indirect Iran-US nuclear talks will be held on Tuesday with the mediation and good offices of Oman."
During his visit to Geneva, Araghchi is expected to hold talks with his Swiss and Omani counterparts as well as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, and other international officials, the foreign ministry statement said.
Tehran and Washington restarted nuclear negotiations in Muscat on February 6, months after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that started a 12-day war.
The latest talks came with Washington having threatened Tehran with military action and deployed an aircraft carrier group to the region amid heightened tensions as the US and Israel fanned the flames of domestic protests inside the country.
Iran has rejected negotiations “in an atmosphere of threats,” with its foreign ministry saying diplomacy cannot proceed while the United States makes military threats and warning it would respond “in the strongest possible way” to any aggression.
On February 6, Araghchi led the Iranian delegation in indirect nuclear talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's influential son-in-law Jared Kushner in Muscat.
Switzerland has served as a key intermediary between Iran and the United States for decades, acting on Washington’s behalf in Tehran after formal diplomatic ties were severed following the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Iranian deputy foreign minister Hamid Ghanbari said Tehran was seeking a deal with the United States that would generate economic benefits for both countries, particularly in sectors such as aviation, mining and oil and gas, the Fars news agency reported.
"For the agreement to be viable, it is essential that the United States also be able to benefit from it in areas with strong and rapid economic return potential," he was quoted as saying.
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