TEHRAN/MUSCAT, April 12 (Xinhua) -- "Indirect" talks between Iran and the United States started Saturday in the Omani capital of Muscat with Oman's mediation, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on social media platform X.

Representatives of Iran and the United States were positioned in separate rooms, and Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi was mediating the negotiations by relaying the two sides' views and positions to each other regarding Tehran's nuclear program and the removal of Washington's sanctions, Baghaei said.

Earlier in the day, following a meeting with Albusaidi, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Muscat that Iran seeks to "reach a fair and honorable agreement from an equal position" with the United States.

"If the other side also comes from the same position, hopefully, there will be a chance for the achievement of an initial agreement that would lead to a path of negotiations," Araghchi was quoted as saying by Iran's IRIB news agency.

Should the two sides be sufficiently determined, "we will also decide on a timetable (for the continuation of the talks), although it is still too soon to talk about this issue," Araghchi said.

"What is clear so far is that the negotiations will be indirect and, in our opinion, will only focus on the nuclear issue," he said.

The meeting between Araghchi and Albusaidi took place shortly after Araghchi's arrival at Muscat and before his scheduled "indirect" negotiations with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

In the meeting, Araghchi briefed Albusaidi on Iran's positions so that he could convey them to the U.S. side, the ministry said.

Also on Saturday, the Omani authorities released a comprehensive summary of the key stages of Iran-U.S. negotiations mediated by Oman since 2013, saying Oman's "quiet diplomacy" and "neutrality" have made it a trusted mediator for both sides.

The ongoing round of talks came after U.S. President Donald Trump stated in early March that he had sent a letter to Iranian leaders -- via the United Arab Emirates -- proposing "direct" negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

While Iran later confirmed receiving the letter and left the door open for indirect engagement, it has rejected face-to-face talks while under what it calls Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign.

On Wednesday, Trump warned that military action remains on the table if Iran fails to agree to end its nuclear program. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting five entities, including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and one individual in connection with Iran's nuclear activities.

Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

However, the United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the nuclear deal have not achieved substantial progress.