Although last-minute diplomacy managed to save the meeting on Friday, February 6, Washington and Tehran come to the table with very distant positions. While the Islamic Republic has shown itself willing to engage in dialogue on its nuclear program tied to the possible lifting of sanctions, Donald Trump's Administration seeks to discuss missile development, Iranian support for regional groups and the brutal repression of the latest protests, issues that Iran is not willing to address.

First modification: 02/05/2026 - 19:40 Last modification: 02/06/2026 - 13:01

The efforts of Middle Eastern countries, led by Turkey, saved what, in the early hours of Wednesday, seemed like the collapse of negotiations between the United States and Iran, even before they sat down at the table.

According to what has emerged, the mediation of Arab leaders ensured that this Friday's meeting will take place in Muscat, the capital of Oman. But on the eve, differences persist over the format of the dialogues and their scope.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that Washington intends for the talks to go beyond the nuclear issue to discuss Iran's ballistic missile program, its support for groups in the region and the "treatment of its own people," in reference to the deadly repression of recent protests.

Iran, meanwhile, has stressed that it is only willing to address its nuclear development, with the premise of achieving a lifting of international sanctions, which Tehran considers unfair.

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The Iranian nuclear program, a historic point of tension

This is the only aspect on which both the United States and Iran agree to negotiate, although with different objectives.

Tension over Iran's nuclear development dates back to 2003, when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) first declared the Islamic Republic to be in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

This pact respects Tehran's right to have a civil nuclear energy program, but prohibits it from using these mechanisms, especially uranium enrichment, to develop atomic weapons.

After pressuring Iran with a combination of sanctions and diplomacy, Western powers along with China and Russia signed the nuclear agreement in 2015 to restrict Iran's nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

However, this understanding reached during the presidency of Barack Obama was harshly criticized by Donald Trump, who abandoned it in 2018, during his first presidency.

Since then, Iran, which insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, has enriched uranium to levels close to 60%, being the only country in the world that reaches that threshold without having a nuclear weapons plan. Uranium enriched to 90% is needed for the development of atomic bombs.

While Trump claimed after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last June, in which the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, that those sites were "destroyed," the extent of the damage remains uncertain. Last November, Iranian officials claimed that the attacks had stopped the production of enriched uranium, but these sites have not been able to be inspected by the IAEA.

Although this issue is expected to lead the talks in Muscat, in the past, Trump has called for a complete ban on Iran's uranium enrichment, a maximalist position that Tehran rejects.

Read alsoWitkoff and Araqchi will meet on Friday to discuss a possible Iranian nuclear deal: Reuters

Missiles, 'Axis of Resistance', repression: the topics that the US wants to include and Iran does not

The ballistic missile capabilities of Iran, which has one of the largest arsenals in the Middle East, is one of Tehran's "red lines" in the face of dialogue with the United States.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made this point on January 30, when he said that "Iran's missile and defensive capabilities will never be the subject of any negotiations."

However, Marco Rubio asserted Wednesday that meaningful talks have to include "the range of their ballistic missiles."

In this US position there is also an influence from its main ally in the region, Israel, which has conveyed its distrust of this round of negotiations to the Trump Administration.

Although he boasted about reducing Iran's missile stock during the 2025 war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued in January that the Islamic Republic's attempt to "build nuclear weapons" and "20,000 ballistic missiles" are like "two malignant tumors."

Another point that the United States, in harmony with Israel, wants to include in the negotiations is the reduction of Iranian influence in the region, which Tehran has projected with its support for armed groups.

Known as the 'Axis of Resistance', Iran has backed Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq. This Iranian 'muscle' has been weakened by the deadly Israeli bombings that have devastated Gaza and large parts of Lebanon, especially the south, and by the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran, in Syria.

However, the United States intends to further reduce its influence, especially in Iraq, where according to Reuters, Washington has threatened sanctions on the country – including a potential impact on its vital oil revenues – if Iranian-backed groups are included in the next government.

Last, but not least, is the deadly repression by the Ayatollah regime of the recent demonstrations, which caused at least 6,200 deaths according to estimates by human rights organizations.

This aspect has been at the center of Trump's threats that have revived tensions between the United States and Iran, with the latent possibility that the American president fulfills his promise to directly attack positions of the Iranian political leadership, with the objective – unclear and unpredictable – of leading to a regime change.

On Wednesday, in an interview with NBC News, Trump again warned that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "should be worried."

Read also: What are Iran's ballistic capabilities?: Tehran's "red line" ahead of the meeting with the US.

Between pressure from allies and fear of staging

In this face-to-face between the United States and Iran, Türkiye has taken the role of mediator, at least in public. Its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated this Thursday that they are doing their best to avoid an escalation.

In fact, Istanbul had initially been targeted as the venue for the meeting before disagreements almost caused the talks to collapse and, later, they were relocated to Oman.

The sultanate has a tradition as a meeting place and even hosted meetings last year between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi over the nuclear program, which collapsed when Israel launched its offensive in Iran last June.

Precisely, its relocation there is a nod to Iran's desire to only focus on nuclear dialogues, as has happened in other meetings in Gulf countries in the past. While a regional source assured Reuters that the talks could be mediated by several nations, Iran has indicated that it intends for the talks to be bilateral between Washington and Tehran.

However, the fear is that, given the notable differences, the negotiations will become a staging. According to Axios, White House officials have indicated that they are "very skeptical" about the talks and that they agreed to move forward with them "out of respect" for regional allies.

Meanwhile, Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, warned this Thursday that "if the Americans enter the negotiations with the same old instructions and, for example, demand zero enrichment or raise similar demands, it must be said from now on that the talks will end in failure."

Also read EE. The US shoots down an Iranian drone that "aggressively" approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea

With Reuters, AP and local media

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