LONDON, United Kingdom - Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei announced that Iran sees no obstacle to US economic investment in the country following last week's first round of talks between Iranian and American diplomats in the Omani capital, Muscat. 

"The issue rests with the Americans themselves," Baghaei said at a televised weekly press briefing in Tehran. 

"Through intricate, multi-layered laws, the Americans have prevented their own citizens from investing in Iran," he added. 

A similar stance was expressed by Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi at a meeting with Iranian lawmakers on Sunday, as he briefed them on the details of the Omani-hosted talks, where he was involved as a member of the Iranian negotiating team. 

Takht-Ravanchi told the parliamentarians that the US side had expressed interest in investing in Iran.

Earlier last week, President Masoud Pezeshkian also declared that the Islamic Republic takes no issue with US investment, and suggested that his administration has secured the green light from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for such an arrangement. 

The United States seeks robust assurances that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons. Tehran insists that such an ambition has never been on its agenda and is open to verification processes. 

Upcoming diplomatic frenzy 

After hailing the Muscat session in similar language as "positive and constructive," the Iranian and American sides have agreed to continue with a second round on Saturday. 

The venue, Baghaei said, has yet to be arranged by Oman, which will continue to serve as the intermediary. Iranian media have been reporting that the new meeting could be held in a European city, possibly Rome or Vienna. 

"The location of the talks is not very important," Baghaei said, while reaffirming that the negotiations will remain indirect. "As long as sanctions, pressure, and threats are in place, the talks will not be  direct," he declared, doubling down on Iran's earlier position on the format. 

In a separate development, Iran's state media said on Monday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is heading to the allied country, Russia, to discuss the recent Oman talks with Russian officials. 

Also on Wednesday, Iran will be hosting Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog for a new round of discussions on cooperation between Tehran and the agency over transparency issues surrounding Iran's nuclear activities. 

Grossi is scheduled to sit down with Araghchi, and the Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.