Iran and the United States stood poised Friday to hold negotiations in Oman at least over Tehran's nuclear program after a chaotic week that initially saw plans for regional countries to take part in talks in Turkey.

Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK. Indirect talks between the US and Iran took place in Oman as the US seeks to curb Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, negotiations that appeared to return to the starting point on how to approach discussions over Tehran's nuclear program.

It wasn’t immediately clear if that was the end of the talks for the day. However, the palace stood empty after the convoys left.

Oil futures gave back gains from the previous session on lower risk premium with talks between the U.S. and Iran set to take place Friday in Oman.

Oil prices settled higher on Friday, reversing earlier losses as traders worried that this week's talks between the U.S. and Iran had failed to reduce the risk of a military conflict between the two countries.

Oil prices rose Friday but were still set for their first weekly fall since December following indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran in Oman. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said talks Friday were a “very good start,

Iran and the United States held negotiations via Omani mediation on Friday to try to overcome sharp differences over Tehran's nuclear programme.