Shortly after talks wrap, US announces new sanctions on Iran

US-Iran nuclear talks conclude in Oman, with another round said planned for coming days

In apparent warning, CENTCOM chief in attendance; Iran FM says discussions focused primarily on finding framework; Omani mediator says talks useful to clarify thinking of both sides

Iran and the United States held two rounds of indirect talks in Oman on Friday, negotiations that appeared to return to the starting point on how to approach discussions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iranian and US officials indicated to Axios that they expect further talks to take place in the coming days.

For the first time at talks between the nations, America brought its top military commander in the Middle East to the table.

The presence of US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military’s Central Command, in his dress uniform at the talks in Muscat, the Omani capital, served as a reminder that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships were now off the coast of Iran in the Arabian Sea.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to reach a deal on the program after earlier sending the carrier to the region over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands of others detained in the Islamic Republic.

The US, represented by Mideast special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, did not immediately comment on the talks.

“We did note that nuclear talks and the resolution of the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists.

“The prerequisite for any dialogue is refraining from threats and pressure,” he added. “We stated this point explicitly today as well, and we expect it to be observed so that the possibility of continuing the talks exists.”

Araghchi said diplomats would return to their capitals, signaling this round of negotiations was over.

Gulf Arab nations fear a US attack on Iran could spark a regional war that would drag them in as well — Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighboring countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line.

Days before Friday’s talks, US forces shot down an Iranian drone near the USS Abraham Lincoln and Iran attempted to stop a US-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader threatened that Tehran would attack Israel in any such event with an “unprecedented” retaliation, including “at the heart of Tel Aviv.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that if Iran attacks Israel, “it will face a powerful response.”

Shortly after the talks wrapped up on Friday, the US announced new sanctions against shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.

But it was not clear if the move was linked to the outcome of the talks.

The new sanctions to curb Iran’s oil exports, including targeting 14 vessels, come with Trump “committed to driving down the Iranian regime’s illicit oil and petrochemical exports under the administration’s maximum pressure campaign,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

Iran’s top diplomat offers a positive note

Araghchi offered cautious optimism as he spoke in a live interview from Muscat on Iranian state television.

He described Friday’s talks as taking place over multiple rounds and said that they were focused primarily on finding a framework for further negotiations.

“We will hold consultations with our capitals regarding the next steps, and the results will be conveyed to Oman’s foreign minister,” Araghchi said.

“The mistrust that has developed is a serious challenge facing the negotiations,” Araghchi said. “We must first address this issue, and then enter into the next level of negotiations.”

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who oversaw multiple rounds of negotiations before Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran in June targeting nuclear and military sites, called the talks “useful to clarify both the Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress.”

“We aim to reconvene in due course,” he said on X.

Still, Oman described the talks as a means to find “the requisite foundations for the resumption of both diplomatic and technical negotiations” rather than a step toward reaching a nuclear deal or easing tensions.

The talks had initially been expected to take place in Turkey in a format that would have included regional countries as well, and would have included topics like Tehran’s ballistic missile program and the brutal crackdown on protests — something Iran apparently rejected in favor of focusing only on its nuclear program.

Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The UN nuclear watchdog — International Atomic Energy Agency — has said Iran is the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn’t armed with the bomb.

Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in the June war, raising the concerns of nonproliferation experts. Even before that, Iran has restricted IAEA inspections since Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Omani palace hosts talks

Friday’s talks saw in-person meetings at a palace near Muscat’s international airport, used by Oman in earlier Iran-US talks in 2025. Associated Press journalists saw Iranian officials first at the palace and later returning to their hotel before the Americans came separately.

It remains unclear just what terms Iran is willing to negotiate at the talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks will only be on its nuclear program.

However, the Al Jazeera satellite news network reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country and pledge “not initiate the use of ballistic missiles.”

Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Iran has said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were nonstarters.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the talks needed to include Tehran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, support for proxy terror groups around the region and “treatment of their own people.”

“I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going to try to find out,” Rubio said.