US and Iranian delegations will gather in Rome Saturday for a second round of high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear program amid tempered optimism about a diplomatic way forward.

ROME (AP) — Iran and the United States plan to meet over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program again next week, after both sides said they made progress in their talks Saturday in Rome.

A U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal would reverse Riyadh’s drift toward China, undercutting Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and its growing influence in the Middle East.