Iran 's president formally approved the resignation of one of his vice presidents who served as Tehran's key negotiator in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, just as the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog was due to arrive in the Islamic Republic on Wednesday.

Iran confirmed Wednesday that the next round of nuclear talks with the United States this weekend will be held in Rome after earlier confusion over where the negotiations would be held. The announcement by Iranian state television came as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally approved the resignation of one of his vice presidents who served as Tehran’s key negotiator in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran’s supreme leader said on Tuesday that the first round of talks with the US went “well”, in his first public comment on the negotiations. The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while couched, represented his endorsement of the talks so far.