Iranian envoy: Talks with U.S. officials 'a very good start'
by Lisa Hornung · UPIFeb. 6 (UPI) -- A meeting between Iranian and U.S. officials in Oman on Friday was "a very good start," the Iranian foreign minister said.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the indirect talks, mediated by Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, were "exclusively nuclear" and that they would each now return home to discuss them with their leaders. He said that both sides agreed to continue negotiations.
Araghchi also said the talks were in a "very positive atmosphere." He represented Iran, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner represented the United States.
Albusaidi said in a post on X: "Very serious talks mediating between Iran and the U.S. in Muscat today. It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress. We aim to reconvene in due course, with the results to be considered carefully in Tehran and Washington."
The Friday meeting was the first time the two countries have talked since the June attack by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities. Witkoff and Araghchi have been in contact via text.
Iran and the United States have been threatening each other recently. President Donald Trump sent an "armada" of ships near Iran and said they will strike "with speed and violence" if Iran doesn't halt its nuclear program, get rid of its enriched uranium, cut the range of ballistic missiles, and stop funding and arming militant groups.
Before the talks, the U.S. Virtual Embassy in Iran issued a new security alert warning telling Americans to "leave Iran now." Because many flights have been canceled in Iran, the advisory told Americans to try to leave through Armenia or Turkey.
It did the same in January as Trump made continuous threats against the nation. Trump said he would attack Iran if it killed any peaceful protesters.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt threatened Iran ahead of the talks on Thursday.
"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 told reporters.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy shot down an Iranian drone that flew near the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice Headquarters on Friday. Justice Department officials have announced that the FBI has arrested Zubayr al-Bakoush, a suspect in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo