Rumors circulated throughout Wednesday that a meeting between Iran and the United States was not taking place, but officials in Tehran and Washington later dispelled the uncertainty, saying they would meet in Oman on Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also announced on social media when the meeting would begin.
“The nuclear talks with the United States have been scheduled to take place in Muscat, on Friday at approximately 10 am. I am grateful to our Omani brothers for taking all necessary measures for this,” Aragchi said in a post on X on Wednesday night.
A US official has confirmed that talks are finally underway after various uncertainties, according to the Reuters news agency.
These statements by officials from both countries come after rumors intensified that US-Iran talks were not taking place.
The uncertainty surrounding Friday’s meeting was first reported by US media outlet Axios, which said the meeting had fallen through because the US refused to change the venue and format of the talks to meet Iran’s demands.
The meeting between the two sides was supposed to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday. But Iran has changed the venue and agenda of the meeting, with conditions. Tehran says it wants to hold the talks in Oman. The talks will be limited to the issue of the nuclear program, they say.
Axios said US officials initially considered relocating the talks, but later rejected the demand.
“We tell them, ‘It’s either there (Türkiye) or it’s not.’ They say, ‘Okay, then it’s not going to happen,'” said a senior US official.
But after lobbying from several Middle Eastern leaders, the Donald Trump administration changed its mind and accepted Tehran’s demands, Axios later reported, citing two US officials.
At least nine countries in the region contacted the White House on Wednesday afternoon to urge senior officials not to cancel the meeting, they said.
However, it is unlikely that representatives from other countries besides the US and Iran will be present at Friday’s meeting. Apart from these two countries, Omani mediators may be present, and the Qatari prime minister may also be present.
Disagreements over the agenda
Talk of canceling the meeting began after a public comment by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which Rubio said that any US talks with Iran must include Tehran’s ballistic missiles, regional position and its internal governance, in addition to its nuclear program.
Many analysts believe that the US Secretary of State’s statement also reveals the Trump administration’s ambivalence on the Iran issue. According to them, on the one hand, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has been tasked with finding a diplomatic solution, while on the other hand, Rubio is trying to “bring Iran back on track” by applying pressure.
Rubio’s comments further fuel Tehran’s fears that the United States will continue to stall for time in the name of negotiations and then attack later, as it has done in the past.
They believe that the long agenda that the United States is trying to negotiate is not aimed at reaching a negotiated solution at all, but rather that Washington’s aim is to force Iran to “virtually surrender,” and if the United States cannot achieve that, it will launch an attack on Iran like it did in June last year.
Rumors of the meeting’s cancellation arose due to disagreements over the agenda. Although the date for the meeting in Muscat has been set, what will be on the agenda has not yet been decided, Reuters reported, citing multiple sources.
However, a senior Iranian official said the talks would only focus on Iran’s nuclear program, and “there will be no talk” about its missile program.
Trump has been hinting at an attack on the Shiite-majority country since Iran cracked down on anti-government protests, but he has recently said he is increasing the US military presence in the Middle East to limit Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Many assumed that a US attack on Iran was inevitable after the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and several warships took positions near Iran. However, later, due to diplomatic efforts by various countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, Tehran and Washington agreed to hold talks.
Khamenei ‘should be very concerned’
Meanwhile, Trump said on Wednesday that Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, should be “very concerned” about the amount of troops and weapons Washington has amassed in the Middle East.
“I would say he should be very concerned. Although, you know, they are in talks with us,” the US president said in an interview with US broadcaster NBC News.
The Republican also said that Tehran considered building new nuclear facilities after the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year.
“They were also thinking about starting a new facility in another part of the country. We caught up with that and said, if you do this, we’re going to do something very bad to you,” Trump said.
