Iran and the United States are set to hold nuclear talks on Friday in Oman after Iran’s foreign minister said the meeting would take place as tensions with Washington remain high following Tehran’s crackdown on nationwide protests last month. In a statement reported Wednesday, Abbas Araghchi said the talks would be held in Oman, adding to weeks of uncertainty over whether negotiations would proceed.
The announcement came after hours of indications that the talks were faltering over changes in both the format and the content of the discussions. A regional official said early Wednesday that Iran was seeking a “different” type of meeting focused exclusively on Iran’s nuclear program, with participation limited to Iran and the United States, while the official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
In the United States, President Donald Trump delivered a blunt warning to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of the talks. Trump told NBC News, “I would say he should be very worried,” according to the Associated Press report, as the administration’s posture remained confrontational amid renewed diplomacy.
U.S. officials said they would proceed with the revised plans even as they expressed skepticism about the outcome. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly, confirmed the meeting in Oman and said several Arab and Muslim leaders urged the Trump administration not to walk away from negotiations, even as Iranian officials pressed to narrow the scope. The official added that the White House remains “very skeptical” the talks will be successful but agreed to go ahead “out of respect for allies in the region.”
The broader context includes intensified warnings and related regional security steps around the Persian Gulf. The Associated Press report said tensions spiked after Trump suggested the United States might use force in response to the crackdown, including if Iran conducted mass executions of detained demonstrators. Separately, on Tuesday, a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that approached an American aircraft carrier, and Iranian fast boats tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Navy; Iran did not formally acknowledge either incident.
While the talks are centered on nuclear questions, U.S. officials signaled they wanted to widen the discussion. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States hoped to discuss concerns beyond the nuclear issue, including Iran’s ballistic missiles, support for proxy networks across the region and “the treatment of their own people,” speaking to reporters. Rubio also said, “The leadership of Iran at the clerical level does not reflect the people of Iran,” adding, “I know of no other country where there’s a bigger difference between the people who lead the country and the people who live there.”
Iran’s internal political signals have also fed expectations that negotiations could move ahead, despite the recent crackdown. The report said Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian instructed the foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the United States, marking the first clear sign from Tehran that it wants to negotiate after months in which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dismissed talks, according to the Associated Press account.
Within the wider U.S. political leadership, Vice President JD Vance argued that direct engagement with Iran’s top leader is difficult because Khamenei oversees Iran’s political system and declines to speak directly with Trump. Vance said Trump’s bottom line is that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, arguing that other states in the region would follow suit, and he said he believed Trump would try to “accomplish what he can through non-military means” before turning to military options.
Turkey, which had been expected to help host talks in the past week, urged diplomatic approaches and cautioned against foreign military action. Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s opposition to foreign intervention in neighboring Iran, calling for resolving issues through dialogue, and said during a visit to Cairo, “We believe that external interventions involving our neighbor Iran would pose significant risks for the entire region,” adding that “Resolving issues with Iran, including the nuclear file, through diplomatic means is the most appropriate approach.”