US President Donald Trump praised the "very good" discussions with Iran, following a round of talks Friday in Oman, saying negotiations would continue early next week.

While welcoming these talks, Mr. Trump maintained pressure on Iran, with new sanctions and an executive order on Saturday threatening additional tariffs on countries that continue to trade with Iran.

"We had (...) very good discussions on Iran, Iran seems very keen to reach an agreement," the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

"We will meet again early next week," he added.

Iran also stated that it would continue its negotiations with the United States, following a round of talks in Oman held in a "very positive atmosphere" according to Tehran.

Direct discussions, according to the American website Axios, took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the US President's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, accompanied by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, under the mediation of the Sultanate of Oman.

According to Mr. Araghchi, the talks focused only on the nuclear aspect, in accordance with Tehran's demands, while Washington is asking that Iran's support for various armed groups hostile to Israel, and its ballistic missile program, also be addressed.

These talks were the first since the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, during the 12-day war triggered by an attack on Iran launched by Israel, a Washington ally.

They took place as Donald Trump recently deployed a large US naval force to the Gulf and increased threats of military intervention in Iran, first in response to the Iranian regime's bloody crackdown on the protest movement in January and then because of Iran's nuclear program.

"Very positive atmosphere"

The Iranian minister said he hoped Washington would refrain from any further "threats" so that talks could continue.

"In a very positive atmosphere, our ideas were exchanged," he told Iranian state television.

He added that both sides had "agreed to continue negotiations, but that the terms and timetable would be decided later."

The discussions are focused "exclusively on the nuclear issue": "we are not discussing any other subject with the Americans," Mr. Araghchi told the Irna news agency.

On Saturday, during a conference in Qatar, he attacked Israel, denouncing the country's "doctrine of domination" which, according to him, allows it to expand its military arsenal while putting pressure on other countries in the region to disarm.

Western countries and Israel accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies while insisting on its right to develop a civilian nuclear program.

Donald Trump claimed in June that US strikes had "annihilated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, but the exact extent of the damage remains unknown.

France asserted on Friday that Iran must renounce being a "destabilizing power", citing in particular its nuclear program.

Iran and the United States had already held negotiations last spring, which were frozen by the 12-day war. They were particularly stuck on the issue of uranium enrichment by Tehran.

Faced with threats from Washington, Tehran has reiterated that it will retaliate against American bases in the region in the event of an attack.

The talks in Oman took place after the Iranian government brutally crushed a widespread protest movement in January.

The US-based NGO Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed 6,955 deaths, the majority of them protesters, and recorded more than 51,000 arrests.

AFP