WASHINGTON / MUSCAT: The United States and Iran are holding nuclear negotiations in Oman on Friday, officials said, as the two longtime adversaries return to diplomacy despite heightened tensions driven by US military deployments and repeated warnings of possible military action.
The US delegation is led by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, while Iran is represented by a diplomatic team headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in Muscat earlier on Friday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
The talks had been thrown into doubt earlier this week, but a White House official confirmed they were going ahead as scheduled.
The negotiations come as several regional and international players step up mediation efforts, with Türkiye playing an active role in encouraging dialogue between Washington and Tehran.
The United States and its ally Israel accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies, saying its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes, including electricity generation.
Ahead of the talks, Araghchi said Iran was engaging in diplomacy “in good faith,” while stressing that commitments must be honoured.
“Iran enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year. We engage in good faith and stand firm on our rights,” Araghchi said in a post on X, adding that “equal standing, mutual respect and mutual interests are a must and the pillars of a durable agreement.”
Earlier, Trump warned Tehran. “I would say he should be very worried,” Trump said of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday. “As you know, they are negotiating with us.”
Trump also claimed Iran had been considering building a new nuclear facility after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during Israel’s war with Iran in June 2025.
“They were thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country,” Trump said.
“We found out about it. I said, you do that, we’re going to do very bad things to you.”
The United States has deployed additional military assets to the region, including an aircraft carrier group.
One of its aircraft shot down an Iranian drone earlier this week, according to CENTCOM. Iran has warned it would retaliate against US targets in the region if attacked.
