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Iran and the United States started high-stakes negotiations with mediators from Oman on Friday to try to overcome sharp differences over Tehran’s nuclear program, but a dispute over widening the agenda risked derailing the diplomacy.
An Iranian official told Reuters the talks had not officially started, although Iran’s demands had been conveyed to the U.S. via Oman. The official said indirect negotiations “possibly” would begin after a meeting between the top U.S. negotiator and Oman’s foreign minister. Previous Iran-U.S. talks have adopted a shuttle diplomacy approach.
While both sides have signalled readiness to revive diplomacy over Tehran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West, Washington wants to expand the talks to also cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, support for armed groups around the region and “treatment of their own people,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.
Iran has said it wants Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss only nuclear issues in Muscat.
“Iran enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year. We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights. Commitments need to be honoured,” Araqchi said on X on Friday ahead of the talks.
“Equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric — they are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement.”
U.S. seeking deal
Tehran’s leadership remains deeply concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump may still carry out his threats to strike Iran amid a buildup by the U.S. Navy near Iran.
In June, the United States struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in the final stages of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign. Tehran has since said its uranium enrichment work has stopped.
U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that ‘bad things’ would probably happen if a deal could not be reached with Iran, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
The U.S. naval buildup, which Trump has called a massive “armada,” has followed a bloody government crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran, heightening tensions between Washington and Tehran.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday told reporters that Trump was looking to determine whether a deal can be struck but also issued a warning.
“While these negotiations are taking place, I would remind the Iranian regime that the president has many options at his disposal, aside from diplomacy as the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the history of the world,” she said.
Trump has warned that “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic in a standoff that has led to mutual threats of airstrikes.
Iran has warned it would respond harshly to any military strike and has cautioned neighbouring countries hosting U.S. bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.
“It’s very difficult to see them conceding enough in talks tomorrow for the U.S. credibly to be able to claim that it’s made a breakthrough. And this is where I think military conflict is more likely than not,” said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think-tank FDD.
Uranium enrichment not negotiable: Iran
Negotiators in Oman will have to navigate Iran’s red line on discussing its missile program to reach a deal and avert future military action. Tehran has flatly ruled out talks on its “defence capabilities, including missiles and their range.”
WATCH | Iranian doctor describes treating patients during protest crackdown:
Iranian doctor describes treating patients during protest crackdown
A doctor describes treating patients in Iran during the regime’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests, telling CBC’s Margaret Evans the scenes were ‘extremely horrifying’ — details that have largely been masked by a government-imposed internet blackout in the country. [Note: This video has been edited to remove information that could identify a confidential source.]
Hours before the talks, Iran’s state TV said that “one of the country’s most advanced long-range ballistic missiles, the Khorramshahr 4,” had been deployed at one of the Revolutionary Guards’ vast underground missile complexes.
However, Tehran is willing to show “flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and accepting zero enrichment under a consortium arrangement as a solution,” Iranian officials told Reuters last week. Iran also insists that its right to enrich uranium is not negotiable.
Iran says its nuclear activities are meant for peaceful, not military, purposes, while the U.S. and Israel have accused it of past efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Tehran’s influence throughout the region has been severely weakened by Israel’s attacks on its regional allies — known as the “Axis of Resistance” — from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq — as well as by the ousting of Iran’s close ally, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
