The U.S. and Iran resumed indirect talks in the Middle East on Friday, with a focus on Iran’s nuclear program. It’s the first time in months that the two countries have met, all as the U.S. tries to avoid a war.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Muscat, meeting indirectly with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
Iranian state media reported that the delegations are being kept in separate rooms and exchanging written messages through Omani mediators.
Oman hopes to revive a diplomatic track that stalled after earlier negotiations collapsed amid rising regional conflict and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
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President Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran during his first term.
Previous tensions
The talks are unfolding amid tensions between the countries. In recent weeks, Washington bombed Iranian nuclear sites, while Tehran launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
New tensions unfolded this week when Iran said it seized two foreign oil tankers near its territorial waters, accusing them of fuel smuggling. Crews were detained and referred to judicial authorities.
Iranian officials framed the move as a law enforcement operation, though details remain limited.
The U.S. and Trump have repeatedly issued threats toward the country, even ahead of the meeting.
US agenda
The formal agenda in Oman is nuclear-related, but the president has not detailed his specific plans or goals for Iran. However, he has made threats toward the country and left open the possibility of regime change.
On Wednesday, NBC News asked Trump whether Iran’s supreme leader should be worried. Trump responded, “I would say he should be very worried, yeah. He should be.”
He added that Iran may be trying to rebuild its nuclear program following the U.S. strikes.
“They were thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country,” Trump said. “We found out about it. I said, ‘You do that, we’re gonna do very bad things to you.’”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said any lasting agreement would need to address Iran’s missiles, its regional activities and human rights conditions that Tehran continues to reject.
“I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going to try to find out,” Rubio said ahead of the talks. “We don’t see there’s any harm in trying to figure out there’s something that can be done. This is a president that always prefers a peaceful outcome to any conflict or any challenge the time for one.”
All this as the U.S. still conducts military operations in the Middle East. According to NBC, the military is still flying aircraft and deploying land-based air defense systems into the region. Plus, the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships are nearing striking distance of Tehran.
U.S. officials, however, insist that the military actions are in response to ongoing tensions, not to planning for a specific upcoming mission.
