Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Muscat, Oman, on Friday that appeared to return negotiations about Tehran’s nuclear program to a starting point, even as the U.S. sent new signals of military readiness to support diplomacy. For the first time in the process, the head of U.S. Central Command, Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, appeared at the talks in his dress uniform, underscoring a message that the USS Abraham Lincoln and other U.S. warships were in the region.
The visible U.S. military presence arrived alongside continued pressure from President Donald Trump. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the United States had “very good” talks on Iran and that more were planned for early next week, while also warning that if Iran did not make a deal on its nuclear program, “the consequences are very steep.” In a separate exchange later, Trump said the administration was “in no rush” for a deal and that it had “plenty of time.”
Trump’s comments came amid a broader U.S. build-up in areas tied to Iran and the region. The administration had earlier dispatched the aircraft carrier Lincoln to the Middle East, and U.S. forces were involved in recent incidents, including shooting down an Iranian drone near the carrier and attempting to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report. The U.S. military also published photos on X showing the carrier group sailing in the Arabian Sea with aircraft overhead under the message “Peace through Strength!”
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told journalists after the talks that “nuclear talks and the resolution of the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats,” adding that “the prerequisite for any dialogue is refraining from threats and pressure.” Araghchi later said Friday’s discussions were focused primarily on finding a framework for further negotiations, and he said diplomats would return to their capitals, with results to be conveyed to Oman’s foreign minister.
Araghchi said mistrust between Washington and Tehran was a serious obstacle to moving to the next stage. In live remarks from Muscat on Iranian state television, he said the sides “must first address this issue, and then enter into the next level of negotiations.” Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has overseen multiple rounds of talks involving Iran and the United States, described the meeting as “useful to clarify both the Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress.”
U.S. representatives at the session included Mideast special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, while Iranian officials met first at a palace near Muscat’s international airport and later returned to their hotel before the Americans came separately, according to reporters present. The talks had initially been expected to take place in Turkey in a format that could have included regional countries, but this round was organized in Oman.
The report said it remains unclear what terms Iran is willing to negotiate, beyond the sides’ stated focus on the nuclear program. Iran has maintained that the discussions would be on its nuclear issue, while the report noted Al Jazeera said diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal involving a halt in enrichment for three years and sending highly enriched uranium out of the country, along with a pledge “not initiate the use of ballistic missiles.” The report also said Russia signaled it would take the uranium, while Iran said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were “nonstarters.”
U.S.-Iran negotiations also continued against a backdrop of escalating sanctions and regional tensions. Shortly after Friday’s talks, the U.S. Treasury and State Department announced a new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector, including penalties such as freezes on assets in U.S. jurisdictions on 14 oil tankers in a “shadow fleet” and actions against 15 trading firms and two business executives. Trump also signed an executive order laying out the legal basis for a potentially 25% import tax on goods from countries that buy oil from Iran, with the potential tariffs removable if Iran or the oil buyers align with U.S. interests on national security, foreign policy and economic issues.
In the weeks preceding the Oman session, the U.S. also imposed sanctions on Iran’s interior minister, the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, and other leaders tied to Iran’s crackdown related to last month’s protests, the report said. The report said those tensions formed the wider context as the latest diplomatic round ended and both sides prepared to return to their capitals.