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Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday that talks with the United States slated for next weekend would remain “indirect” with Omani mediation, and be focused solely on the nuclear issue and lifting of sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a first round of talks on Saturday in Muscat, marking the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.They agreed to meet again in seven days.”Negotiations will continue to be indirect. Oman will remain the mediator, but we are discussing the location of future negotiations,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in an interview with state TV.He said the talks would only focus on “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions”, and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue”.Analysts had said the US would push to include on the agenda discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme, along with Tehran’s support for the “axis of resistance” — a network of militant groups opposed to Israel.Tehran has, however, maintained it will talk only about its nuclear programme.Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term as US president.He reimposed sweeping economic sanctions against Iran, which continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Washington’s pullout but later began rolling back its own commitments. Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.Saturday’s negotiations came weeks after Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Iran refuses.Iran and the US separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive”. Iran said the talks were held indirectly, with Oman’s foreign minister acting as intermediary. The negotiators, Araghchi and Witkoff, spoke directly for “a few minutes” after the talks, Tehran’s foreign ministry said. Another round of talks will be held on Saturday, April 19. The official IRNA news agency reported that they would be held in Europe, without elaborating.Asked about the talks, Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One: “I think they’re going OK. Nothing matters until you get it done.”The process took place in a “friendly atmosphere”, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.- ‘Turning point’ -Several Iranian websites that track the unofficial exchange rate reported Sunday a strengthening of the Iranian rial to around 850,000 to the US dollar, from more than one million in recent days.Iran, reeling from Israel’s pummelling of its allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, is seeking relief from wide-ranging sanctions hobbling its economy.Tehran has agreed to the meetings despite baulking at Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of ramping up sanctions and repeated military threats.On Sunday, Iranian media largely welcomed the talks as a “decisive turning point” in relations between the longtime foes.Iran’s conservative Javan daily praised the US for “not seeking to expand the negotiations to non-nuclear issues”.The government-sponsored Iran newspaper described the discussions as “constructive and respectful”, quoting Araghchi.Meanwhile, the reformist Shargh newspaper said it was a “decisive turning point” in Iran-US relations. The hardline Kayhan newspaper, which was largely sceptical in the days leading up to the talks, lamented that Iran does not have a “plan B” while there was “no clear prospect for an agreement with Donald Trump.”It however lauded the fact that the American side did not bring up “the dismantling of nuclear facilities” and “the possibility of a military attack” during the discussions.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah.Iran has been wary about engaging in talks with the United States, often citing previous experience and undermined trust.

Oscar Piastri powered to victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, coasting clear from George Russell’s Mercedes to maintain McLaren’s strong start to the season.Pole-sitter Piastri kept his composure in an incident-packed race to give the Bahraini-backed McLaren team a first ever win at the 21st attempt in a race at their ‘second home’.Piastri, who also won in China last month, crossed the line 15.499sec clear of Mercedes’ George Russell, who was under investigation for an issue with the DRS (drag reduction system), meaning he could take a five-second penalty.Lando Norris in the other McLaren took third while Max Verstappen’s trying weekend at the desert track ended with the four-time world champion only managing sixth place.Norris, the winner of the season opener in Melbourne, leads the drivers’ standings on 77 points, with Piastri overtaking Verstappen into second ahead of next weekend’s race in Jeddah.There was no-one happier in the crowd than the ruler of Bahrain, King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, whose sovereign fund owns McLaren.”That should be one hell of a party tonight. Mega weekend everyone. That was pretty damn fun,” Piastri said after marking his 50th start in perfect style.”I’m proud to have done it here in Bahrain as well. It’s obviously a very important race for us given our owners and it’s never been a track that has been kind to us so it’s nice to finally have that first win for the team here,” he added.Taking the chequered flag under floodlights on a balmy Sunday evening in the Gulf kingdom was just reward after a weekend he had dominated, both in practice and in qualifying.Norris, who started in sixth and picked up a five-second time penalty for being out of position on the grid, commented: “It was a tough race. I made too many mistakes with the overtakes and being out of position.”It was a messy race from me and I’m disappointed not to bring home a one-two for McLaren because that would have been lovely at home, it’s a tough one but still a few positives.”Charles Leclerc came in fourth with his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton fifth ahead of Verstappen and Pierre Gasly earned Alpine’s first points of the year at the fourth attempt.Rounding out the top 10 were Esteban Ocon (Haas), recovering from a big smash in qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, and Ocon’s teammate Oliver Bearman.- Gloves off -As the sun dipped down over the Gulf the start lights went out on the fourth race of the season with Piastri roaring off from pole and getting his gloves off early to fend off Russell’s Mercedes to turn one.Norris got a dream getaway, jumping from sixth to third to muscle back into contention after a disappointing qualifying.The anticipated news then arrived from the stewards about his start sanction and he was quickly ‘boxed’ to serve the penalty in the pits.He resumed 14th with a fifth of the 57-lap race completed.After pitting, Piastri emerged with Ferrari duo Leclerc and Hamilton in front of him, as Norris scythed his way through the pack up into sixth.The Australian was soon back in front when the two Ferraris were summoned in for a change of footwear.Verstappen, winner in Japan last weekend, has not cut a contented figure in Bahrain, grumbling to his pitlane: “I can’t even brake anymore, it’s ridiculous.”At the halfway point Piastri led from Russell, with Leclerc nipping past Norris into third.With the safety car then deployed to pick up debris at turn three Piastri took the opportunity to dive into the pits for a ‘free’ stop’, followed by his closest pursuers.The restart was manic, with mayhem behind Piastri as Norris muscled past Hamilton who pointed out “Lando passed me off the track”.Norris gave the position back, but just up the road sailed past the seven-time champion.Entering the business end of the race, Piastri turned the screw to pull clear of Russell as Norris lunged past Leclerc.

An Israeli air strike early Sunday heavily damaged one of the few functioning hospitals in Gaza, with the Israeli military saying it had targeted a Hamas “command and control centre” operating within the facility.Since the outbreak of war, tens of thousands of Gazans have sought refuge in hospitals, many of which have suffered severe damage in the ongoing hostilities.The strike on Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza — also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab Hospital — caused no casualties, but came a day after Israeli forces seized a key corridor in the territory and signalled plans to expand their campaign.It also came as aid agencies and the United Nations warned that medicines and related supplies were rapidly running out in Gaza as casualties surged.”The bombing led to the destruction of the surgery building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units,” Gaza’s civil defence rescue agency said.It came “minutes after the (Israeli) army’s warning to evacuate”, the agency added.AFP photographs showed massive slabs of concrete and twisted metal scattered across the site after the strike.The blast left a gaping hole in one of the hospital’s buildings, with iron doors torn from their hinges. An Iraqi broadcaster said one of its TV vans was also damaged.A separate air strike Sunday on a vehicle in the central city of Deir el-Balah killed seven people including six brothers, the civil defence agency said.Mahmud Abu Amsha, who witnessed the strike, said those killed were distributing aid.”They do not care about children or people being killed… This aid was being provided to the displaced people,” he told AFP.- Patients on streets -On Saturday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that the military planned to expand its offensive as it completed the takeover of the “Morag axis” between the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis. Patients, relatives and medical personnel evacuated the Al-Ahli hospital in haste following the military’s warning. Many found themselves stranded in the surrounding streets.Naela Imad, 42, had been sheltering at the hospital but had to rush out of the complex. “Just as we reached the hospital gate, they bombed it. It was a massive explosion,” she told AFP. “Now, me and my children are out on the street. We’ve been displaced more than 20 times. The hospital was our last refuge.”The Israeli military asserted that Hamas militants were operating “a command and control centre” inside the hospital compound.Hamas condemned what it described as a “savage crime” committed by Israel “with blatant US cover and complicity”, dismissing the claim that the facility was a used militarily. Qatar, which helped mediate a fragile ceasefire between the warring parties that fell apart last month, also denounced the strike as “a heinous crime”.- Hospitals targeted -Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023.Al-Ahli was heavily damaged by an explosion in its car park on October 17, 2023 that caused multiple fatalities.Aid agencies and the UN say that only a few of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional.British Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Israel on Sunday to halt the “deplorable attacks” on hospitals, calling for diplomacy to “achieve a lasting peace”.Last month, Israeli forces opened fire on ambulances in Gaza, killing 15 medics and rescuers in an incident that sparked international condemnation. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Sunday that a medic who had been missing since the attack, Asaad al-Nsasrah, was being held by Israeli authorities.”His fate had remained unknown since he was targeted along with other PRCS medics in Rafah,” the group said in a statement.The Israeli army has said it is investigating the attack.The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday that at least 1,574 Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,944.The ceasefire had largely put a halt to the fighting in Gaza for two months, but Israel restarted intense strikes in mid-March, with Palestinian militants resuming rocket fire from the territory days later.The Israeli military said Sunday that “one projectile that was identified crossing into Israeli territory from Gaza was intercepted” by the air force, with no injuries reported.burs-sco-jd/smw/ysm

Chinese President Xi Jinping will kick off a five-day, three-nation Southeast Asia tour on Monday as Beijing seeks to tighten regional trade ties and offset the impact of huge tariffs unleashed by his US counterpart Donald Trump.Xi will visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia in his first overseas trip of the year, China’s foreign ministry said.He …

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