US and Iran talks begin in Oman amid Trump’s military threats – live | Iran
Key events
It is the first time the US and Iran have sat down for face-to-face negotiations since June last year, when Israel launched attacks on Iran that sparked a war marked by tit-for-tat airstrikes, with the US also joining the fray. It effectively ended the US-Iran talks that were held in the weeks prior to the conflict aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement.
More recently, Donald Trump has been threatening to strike Iran for more than a month and just last week warned that an “armada” of US warships had reached the Persian Gulf. This recent clash began after Trump said he would strike Iran if it killed protesters during mass antigovernment demonstrations that swept the country last month. Human rights groups say thousands of people were killed during the brutal government crackdown on those protests.
It is hoped that the high-stakes negotiations in the Omani capital, Muscat, today will defuse tensions between the two countries, but Iran has stated that the talks will solely focus on its nuclear programme and it remains unclear what terms both sides are willing to negotiate on.
Iran-US talks begin in Oman
Iranian media are reporting that the nuclear talks between Iranian and US officials in Muscat have now begun.
Iran warns US against ‘excessive demands or acts of adventurism’
Iran’s Mehr news agency has reported some comments from the pre-talks meeting between Aragchi and Albusaidi, in which the Iranian foreign minister warned against excessive demands by the US.
“Araghchi emphasised full readiness to defend the country’s sovereignty and national security against any excessive demands or acts of adventurism,” Mehr reported.
It added that the Omani foreign minister expressed hope that the nuclear talks “would pave the way for a sustainable understanding between Iran and the United States”.
Araghchi has touched down in Muscat and was welcomed by the Omani foreign minister ahead of the nuclear talks with US officials.
The pair “discussed the most important bilateral, regional, and international issues”, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.
We have early pictures from the Iranian foreign ministry of the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, with the Omani foreign minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, in Muscat.
Iran is betting that Donald Trump does not have a plan for regime change, writes Patrick Wintour:
When it comes to Iran and Donald Trump, there is so much bluff, backed by military hardware, that the truth rarely makes an appearance.
It appears that a bullish Iran is going into negotiations with the US on Friday adopting maximalist positions that do not seem greatly different to those it adopted in the five rounds of talks before the negotiations were abruptly halted by the surprise Israeli attack on Iran last June.
Given how much Iran has been weakened in the intervening eight months, Tehran’s refusal to change its negotiating position is at one level surprising.
For the full analysis, click here:
Here are some of the latest images coming through the newswires ahead of the US-Iran talks:
Patrick Wintour and Andrew Roth:
Iran’s foreign minister said late on Wednesday that the talks would proceed in Oman after reports of a last-minute effort by Arab states to convince the White House not to walk away from negotiations.
“Nuclear talks with the United States are scheduled to be held in Muscat on about 10am Friday,” wrote the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. “I’m grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements.”
US officials have also indicated the talks in Oman will go forward. They will take place amid a massive buildup of US naval and airpower in the region and appear to be a last chance for Tehran to avert a US strike against the country’s leadership and nuclear programme.
The talks had collapsed earlier on Wednesday as Iran vowed they would be confined to its nuclear programme only. The US had demanded the talks also address Tehran’s ballistic missile programme, which Iran had ruled out.
For the full story, click here:
Iranian foreign minister: ‘We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights’
Ahead of the talks in Muscat, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi took to X on Friday morning and said that ‘Iran enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”
He went on to add: “We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights. Commitments need to be honored. Equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric—they are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement.”
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the upcoming nuclear talks between senior US and Iranian officials taking place on Friday in Oman.
Earlier this week, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian announced that he had instructed his foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the US, which has in recent days built up a heavy military presence in the region, including an aircraft carrier strike group.
On Tuesday, the US military said that it had shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone after it “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Despite the US military saying that it had shot the drone down “in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,” Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars said the drone was on a “surveillance mission in international waters.”
With growing tensions between the US and Iran, particularly amid the recent anti-government protests where thousands are reported to have been killed by Iranian authorities, US president Donald Trump claimed last weekend the US “armada” near Iran was bigger than the taskforce deployed to topple Venezuela’s leader.
Trump added that he believes Iran wants to make a deal, saying: “If we do make a deal, that’s good. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens.”
Despite both sides signalling their readiness to negotiate, the agenda for Friday’s talks remains to be determined.
The US has requested the talks to be all-encompassing, with secretary of state Marco Rubio saying on Wednesday: “That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program, and that includes the treatment of their own people.”
Meanwhile, Iran has insisted that it wants the talks to cover only nuclear issues.
We will bring you the latest, as it happens.
