Trump says Iran should be ‘very worried’ as talks with US are set for Friday in Oman

US President Donald Trump sent a fresh warning to Iran’s leaders as US military forces amass in the region, even as diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran were set for later this week. 

“I would say he should be very worried, yeah. He should be,” Mr Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Feb 4, when asked about Iran’s supreme leader. “As you know, they are negotiating with us.” 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post on Feb 4 that talks with the US were scheduled to be held in Muscat, Oman on the morning of Feb 6. 

The US and Iran still plan to meet in Oman on Feb 6 to discuss a nuclear deal, according to a White House official.

Iran had asked for the discussions – which follow repeated threats by Mr Trump to strike the country if it does not agree to a deal – to be moved to Oman from Turkey and to exclude the participation of regional countries, people familiar with the matter said earlier.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said earlier on Feb 4 that the US thought an agreement had been reached for the meeting to be held on Feb 6 in Turkey, while adding that the administration remained open to talks.

Iran also has said it wants to limit the discussions to its nuclear programme, but Mr Rubio said that “for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they have to include certain things”.

That includes Tehran’s ballistic-missile programme, sponsorship of regional militant groups and the treatment of its people, Mr Rubio said, adding White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff is prepared and ready to attend a summit. 

Contrasting positions over the parameters of the talks are likely to raise concerns about whether the two sides can realistically bridge major differences at a time of heightened tensions in the oil-rich region. The US and Iran have long been at loggerheads over the Islamic Republic’s atomic activities, but divisions have grown – particularly after Tehran authorities crushed a recent wave of protests, leaving thousands dead.  

On Feb 3, a US jet shot down an Iranian drone
after it “aggressively approached” the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the American military and government said. The skirmish sent oil prices higher. 

Iran has previously pushed back against negotiating with the US over its conventional missile capabilities, but the country is more vulnerable than in earlier rounds due to unprecedented levels of dissent at home. 

Talks between Tehran and Washington last year collapsed after Israel started air strikes on Iran in June.

Mr Araghchi said last week that Iran’s missiles will “never” be subject to negotiations, and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has explicitly tasked him with negotiating “within the framework of the nuclear deal”. That refers specifically to Iran’s atomic activities, with the Islamic Republic having blocked international monitors from accessing some nuclear facilities after Israel and the US launched airstrikes in June.   

The talks would mark the first public meeting between Iranian and US officials since Tehran violently suppressed mass protests in Iran last month. BLOOMBERG