U.S.-Iran talks shift to Oman as Tehran demands bilateral format, Saudis warn they’ll match any Iranian bomb and Gulf incidents raise war fears.
The upcoming U.S.-Iran nuclear talks are now expected to be held in Oman on Friday, after the Trump administration agreed to Tehran’s request to move the venue from Turkey, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing an Arab source familiar with the discussions. The source told reporter Barak Ravid that there are ongoing negotiations about whether Arab and Muslim regional countries will join the talks in the Gulf state, with the White House declining to comment.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he had instructed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to pursue talks proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Axios reported on Monday that White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Araghchi were expected to meet on Friday in Istanbul to discuss a possible nuclear agreement, with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also expected to take part.
Ravid reported on Tuesday, citing two sources with knowledge of the talks, that the Iranian regime now wants to hold only bilateral talks with the United States, without Arab and Muslim representatives as observers because, according to one source, the Iranians only want to discuss the nuclear file and not other topics such as the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program and support for Middle Eastern terrorist proxies.
Amid preparations for the talks, a source in the Saudi royal family told Israel’s Channel 12 News that Riyadh views the negotiations as largely a bid to “buy time” and is taking part at Trump’s request. The source said Saudi Arabia has set a clear red line that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, the kingdom will seek a matching capability, while publicly stressing it will remain neutral in any U.S.-Iran military conflict. (Read More)
