Iran says nuclear talks gauged ‘seriousness’ of U.S

DUBAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Nuclear talks with the United States allowed Tehran to gauge Washington’s seriousness and showed enough consensus to continue on the diplomatic track, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

U.S. and Iranian diplomats held talks through Omani mediators in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, after U.S. President Donald Trump positioned a naval flotilla in the region, raising fears of new military action.

“The Muscat meeting was not a long meeting. In our view, it was to gauge the seriousness of the other side and how to continue this path,” Baghaei said.

“After the talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process.”

The spokesperson said that a trip to Oman on Tuesday by Ali Larijani, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, was pre-planned to follow up on regional consultations, and that Larijani would next travel to Qatar.

Regarding the Israeli Prime Minister’s expected trip to Washington on Wednesday, Baghaei said the U.S. “must act independently of foreign pressures, especially Israeli pressures that ignore the interests of the region and even the U.S.”

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom, Editing by Timothy Heritage, Aidan Lewis)