DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Iran and the United States are set to hold high-stakes negotiations in Oman on Friday over Tehran’s nuclear program, but a dispute over the agenda suggests progress will be hard won amid the threat of a regional Middle East war.
While both sides have signaled readiness to revive diplomacy over Tehran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West, Washington wants the talks to cover Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, support for armed groups around the region and its “treatment of their own people,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.
Iran has said it wants Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss only nuclear issues in Muscat.
Tehran said it will engage in the talks “with authority and with the aim of reaching a fair, mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue.” “We hope the American side will also participate in this process with responsibility, realism and seriousness,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday.
Tehran’s leadership remains deeply concerned that US President Donald Trump may still carry out his threats to strike Iran amid a buildup by the US Navy near Iran.
