IRAN and the United States will hold their next round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, a facilitator said on Sunday.

This comes as the Islamic Republic faces both the threat of a US military attack and new protests at home.

Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi confirmed the talks. Oman previously hosted the indirect talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme and facilitated the latest round in Geneva last week.

There was no immediate comment from the Trump administration, which has built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades as it pushes the Iranians for concessions on its nuclear programme and more.

Shortly before Oman’s announcement, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi told CBS in an interview that he expected to meet US envoy Steve Witkoff in Geneva on Thursday and said a “good chance” remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue.

Washington awaits a proposed deal that Mr Araghchi has said would be ready to share within days, and the foreign minister told CBS that Iran was still working on the draft proposal.

The nuclear issue, he said, is the only matter being discussed — even though both the US and Israel also want to address Iran’s missile programme and its support for armed proxies in the Middle East.

President Donald Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran were possible, and both Iran and the US have signalled that they are prepared for war if the talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme fail.

Soon after Oman’s confirmation of the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on social media that negotiations had involved “the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals,” but said that Tehran had “made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario.”

The US has insisted that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons even though Israel has them and there are increasing rumours that Saudi Arabia also has them.

The Iranians have said they do not wish to have nuclear weapons, but Mr Araghchi told CBS on Sunday that Iran has the right to enrich uranium.

Confirmation of new talks came as new anti-government protests began in Iran, according to witnesses, as university students in Tehran and another city demonstrated around memorials for the people killed in a crackdown on previous nationwide demonstrations about six weeks ago.

Iran’s news agency said students protested at five universities in the capital, Tehran, and one in the city of Mashhad on Sunday. This followed protests at other universities on Saturday.