{"id":4642,"date":"2026-03-05T09:47:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/4642\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T09:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:47:44","slug":"iran-and-us-hold-indirect-talks-in-oman-over-tehrans-nuclear-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/4642\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran and US hold indirect talks in Oman over Tehran’s nuclear program"},"content":{"rendered":"

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) \u2014 Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman on Friday<\/a>, negotiations that appeared to return to the starting point on how to approach discussions over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program. But for the first time, America brought its top military commander in the Middle East to the table. <\/p>\n

The presence of U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the military\u2019s 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<\/a> and other warships were now off the coast of Iran in the Arabian Sea. <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump said the United States had \u201cvery good\u201d talks on Iran and said more were planned for early next week. But he kept up the pressure, warning that if the country didn\u2019t make a deal over its nuclear program, \u201cthe consequences are very steep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIran looks like they want to make a deal very badly \u2014 as they should,\u201d Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to his Florida golf club late Friday. He suggested Iran was willing to \u201cdo more\u201d than in previous talks but did not give details.<\/p>\n

Asked how long he was willing to wait for a deal, Trump said: \u201cWe have plenty of time. If you remember Venezuela, we waited around for a while. We\u2019re in no rush.\u201d The Trump administration built up a huge military presence in the Caribbean Sea in the months before a U.S. raid captured then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n

Trump has issued threats against Iran<\/p>\n

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 amid Tehran\u2019s bloody crackdown<\/a> on nationwide protests that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands of others detained in the Islamic Republic. <\/p>\n

Gulf Arab nations fear an attack could spark a regional war that would drag them in as well. <\/p>\n

That threat is real \u2014 U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone near the Lincoln<\/a> and Iran attempted to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz just days before Friday\u2019s talks in this sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe did note that nuclear talks and the resolution of the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later told journalists. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe prerequisite for any dialogue is refraining from threats and pressure,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Araghchi said diplomats would return to their capitals, signaling this round of negotiations was over. The U.S. was represented by Mideast special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law.<\/p>\n

In a display of force, the U.S. military published photos on X of the Lincoln carrier group sailing in the Arabian Sea with aircraft flying overhead, with the message \u201cPeace through Strength!\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s top diplomat offers a positive note<\/p>\n

Araghchi offered cautious optimism as he spoke in a live interview from Muscat on Iranian state television. He said Friday\u2019s talks were focused primarily on finding a framework for further negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will hold consultations with our capitals regarding the next steps, and the results will be conveyed to Oman\u2019s foreign minister,\u201d Araghchi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mistrust that has developed is a serious challenge facing the negotiations,\u201d Araghchi said. \u201cWe must first address this issue, and then enter into the next level of negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who oversaw multiple rounds of negotiations before Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran in June, called the talks \u201cuseful to clarify both the Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u2019s ballistic missile program \u2014 something Iran apparently rejected in favor of focusing only on its nuclear program. <\/p>\n

Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity,<\/a> a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The U.N. nuclear watchdog \u2014 the International Atomic Energy Agency \u2014 had said Iran was the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn\u2019t armed with the bomb. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America<\/a> from Iran\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Omani palace hosts talks<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s talks saw in-person meetings at a palace near Muscat\u2019s international airport, used by Oman in earlier talks Iran-U.S. talks in 2025. Associated Press journalists saw Iranian officials first at the palace and later returning to their hotel before the Americans came separately.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cnot initiate the use of ballistic missiles.\u201d <\/p>\n

Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Iran has said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were nonstarters. <\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the talks needed to include all those issues. <\/p>\n

The US slaps new sanctions on Iran\u2019s energy sector<\/p>\n

Shortly after Friday\u2019s talks, the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. State Department announced a new round of sanctions on Iran targeting its energy sector, imposing penalties, including freezes on assets in U.S. jurisdictions, on 14 oil tankers in a so-called \u201cshadow fleet\u201d that the U.S. says are used to try to evade sanctions, as well as on 15 trading firms and two business executives.<\/p>\n

Trump also signed an executive order that says an import tax of potentially 25% \u201cmay\u201d be imposed on goods from countries that buy oil from Iran. The order does not specifically impose tariffs so much as give the president the legal basis for levying them starting Saturday. <\/p>\n

It says the potential tariffs can be removed if Iran or the foreign buyers of its oil align themselves with U.S. interests on national security, foreign policy and economic issues.<\/p>\n

In the past month, the U.S. also has sanctioned Iran\u2019s interior minister,<\/a>the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security<\/a>, and several other leaders involved in Iran\u2019s deadly crackdown against last month\u2019s protests. ___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Josh Boak and Moriah Balingit in Washington, Darlene Superville in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York<\/a> and Outrider Foundation<\/a>. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MUSCAT, Oman (AP) \u2014 Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, negotiations that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[719,211,2941,3279,2290,328,989,38,197,34,61,196,2018,210,49,768,3295,294,181,3296,81,2445,1830,2017,69,2305,200,771,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-4642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-abbas-araghchi","10":"tag-abraham-lincoln","11":"tag-badr-al-busaidi","12":"tag-brad-cooper","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-diplomacy","15":"tag-donald-trump","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-iran","18":"tag-iran-government","19":"tag-iran-war","20":"tag-jared-kushner","21":"tag-marco-rubio","22":"tag-middle-east","23":"tag-military-and-defense","24":"tag-muscat","25":"tag-nicolas-maduro","26":"tag-oman","27":"tag-oman-government","28":"tag-politics","29":"tag-sanctions-and-embargoes","30":"tag-send-to-apple-news","31":"tag-steve-witkoff","32":"tag-tehran","33":"tag-u-s-venezuela-conflict","34":"tag-war-and-unrest","35":"tag-washington-news","36":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116175938918923162","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}