U.S., Iran to hold talks Friday in Oman

by · UPI

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The United States and Iran will hold talks Friday in Oman as the two hope to iron out their differences on nuclear capabilities.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the White House announced the meeting on Wednesday after several days of back and forth between the two.

Araghchi will meet with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. Oman's foreign minister will also be there as the host.

Araghchi said the meeting will be at 10 a.m. GST in Muscat.

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"I'm grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements," Araghchi said on X.

The Friday meeting will be the first time the two countries will talk since the 12-day war in June in which Israel and the United States attacked Iran's nuclear facilities. The New York Times reported that Witkoff and Araghchi have been in contact by text.

The two countries have been threatening each other recently. Trump sent an "armada" of ships to the Arabian Sea near Iran and said they will strike "with speed and violence" if Iran doesn't freeze its nuclear program, get rid of its enriched uranium, cut the range of ballistic missiles and stop funding and arming militant groups.

Trump has also threatened military strikes if Iran doesn't stop killing protesters.

Iran said that doing what Trump demands would be surrender. It's also threatened to attack U.S. military targets in the region, including Israel.

"Iran is going to have to sit down and talk because they have no other option," Sina Azodi, director of the Middle East studies program at George Washington University, told The New York Times in an interview. "They either have to risk war or sit down and talk because Donald Trump has taken the concept of gunboat diplomacy literally."

The planning of the talks has taken much negotiation. Initially, they were scheduled to be in Istanbul, Turkey, and foreign ministers from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, were invited to participate.

But Iran wouldn't have it. On Tuesday, the country requested Oman for the site and that there would only be American and Iranian representatives, The Times reported. If other countries participated, it would seem like Trump was putting on a show and would corner Iran into negotiating with the entire region.

Iran has also said it would only discuss the nuclear program, while the United States wants to discuss the other issues. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the only way talks could be meaningful is if they center on the nuclear program, the range of Iran's ballistic missiles, support for regional militias and how it treats its own citizens.

"President Trump said, 'no nuclear weapons,' and we fully agree with that. That could be a very good deal. Of course, in return we expect sanction lifting. So that deal is possible. Let's not talk about impossible things," the BBC reported Araghchi said.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy shot down an Iranian drone that flew toward the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.

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