Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) (AFP) - Iran and the United States begin talks on Friday in the Authority of Oman, which Tehran wants to limit to its nuclear program, while Washington continues to threaten military action if the negotiations fail.

Published on: 05/02/2026 - 22:57 Last updated: 06/02/2026 - 00:23

The talks, which according to Tehran are supposed to begin in the morning in Muscat, are the first since the United States launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June during the 12-day war that broke out following an Israeli attack on Iran.

The American delegation is headed by President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the Islamic Republic's delegation is headed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

Araghchi arrived in the Omani capital on Thursday evening, according to the official IRNA news agency.

This meeting comes less than a month after the bloody crackdown launched by the Iranian regime against a large-scale protest movement, which according to human rights organizations resulted in thousands of deaths.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed its hope that Washington would show “responsibility, realism and seriousness” in the talks.

“They are negotiating,” Trump said at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, adding, “They don’t want us to hit them. We have a large fleet heading there,” referring to the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its strike group.

The US President initially threatened military action against Tehran over its suppression of the demonstrators, and even told the protesters that “help is on the way.” But his speech in recent days focused on curbing the Iranian nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at creating a nuclear bomb.

His deputy, Jay Dee Vance, said in an interview with Sirius

Vance also expressed his frustration at the lack of direct communication between Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying, "It is a very strange country to deal with diplomatically. It is not possible to even talk to the person in charge of the country."

"Fears of escalation"

Iran and the United States previously held negotiations in the spring, especially in the Sultanate of Oman, but they were frozen due to the 12-Day War. Those talks faltered in particular over the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment.

Iran insisted on discussing the nuclear file only with the aim of lifting international sanctions that are hindering its economy, rejecting any negotiations on its ballistic missile program, which it considers a tool for self-defense, or its support for groups hostile to Israel, especially the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.

Iranian state television stressed on Thursday that “the talks are limited to the nuclear file,” quoting an official in the Iranian delegation.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had pointed out that “in order for the talks to lead to tangible results, they must include specific items, including the range of their ballistic missiles, their support for terrorist organizations in the region, their nuclear program, and their treatment of their people.”

For his part, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, from the Qatari capital, Doha, urged the Iranian leadership to "seriously enter into negotiations" with the United States, saying that there are "great fears of military escalation in the region."

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said: “Iran continues to show intransigence towards meeting US demands, which reduces the possibility of Iran and the United States reaching a diplomatic solution.”

In light of its continued threats of military action, the United States sent the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its naval strike group to the region, while Iran vowed to target American bases in the region if they were attacked.

On Thursday, Iranian state television quoted army spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akrami Nia as saying, “We are ready for defense, and the American president must choose between settlement or war,” warning that Iran could “easily” attack American bases.

In a sign of tensions, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard detained two oil tankers with their foreign crews in Gulf waters on charges of “fuel smuggling,” Tasnim news agency reported Thursday.

It was not immediately clear which flag the two tankers were flying or the nationalities of their crews.

The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who is currently an advisor to Khamenei, as saying, “Iran is fully prepared to confront any foreign threat or enemy.”

© 2026 AFP

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