Iran and US set for talks in Oman over nuclear program after Tehran shaken by nationwide protests

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran and the United States stood poised Friday to clasp negotiations successful Oman astatine slightest implicit Tehran's atomic programme aft a chaotic week that initially saw plans for determination countries to instrumentality portion successful talks successful Turkey.

The 2 countries person returned to Oman, a sultanate connected the eastbound borderline of the Arabian Peninsula, months aft rounds of meetings turned to ash pursuing Israel's motorboat of a 12-day warfare against Iran backmost successful June. The U.S. bombed Iranian atomic sites during that war, apt destroying galore of the centrifuges that spun uranium to adjacent weapons-grade purity. Israel's attacks decimated Iran's aerial defenses and targeted its ballistic rocket arsenal arsenic well.

U.S. officials similar Secretary of State Marco Rubio judge Iran's theocracy is present astatine its weakest constituent since its 1979 Islamic Revolution aft nationwide protests past period represented the top situation to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule. Khamenei's forces responded with a bloody crackdown that killed thousands and reportedly saw tens of thousands arrested — and spurred caller subject threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to people the country.

With the craft bearer USS Abraham Lincoln and different warships successful the portion on with much combatant jets, the U.S. present apt has the subject firepower to motorboat an onslaught if it wanted. But whether attacks could beryllium capable to unit Iran to alteration its ways — oregon perchance topple its authorities — remains acold from a definite thing.

Meanwhile, Gulf Arab nations fearfulness an onslaught could spark a determination warfare dragging them successful arsenic well. That menace is existent — already, U.S. forces changeable down an Iranian drone adjacent the Lincoln and Iran attempted to halt a U.S.-flagged vessel successful the Strait of Hormuz.

“President Trump seeks to country Iran into reaching a negotiated solution, strong-arming its leaders into making concessions connected the atomic deal,” said Alissa Pavia, a chap astatine the Atlantic Council. “The Iranians, connected the different hand, are weakened aft years of proxy warfare, economical crisis, and interior unrest. Trump is alert of this vulnerability and is hoping to usage it to extract concessions and marque inroads toward a renewed atomic agreement.”

Few details connected talks up of meeting

The scope, quality and participants successful the talks stay unclear, conscionable hours earlier they were owed to statesman successful Muscat, the Omani superior nestled successful the Hajar Mountains. Officials astatine Oman's borders connected Thursday showed peculiar interest implicit anyone carrying cameras into the sultanate earlier the negotiations.

On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived astatine nighttime on with aggregate Iranian diplomats, the state-run IRNA quality bureau reported.

Flight-tracking information showed the level that carried him to Muscat initially started its travel from Tabas, Iran, the tract of the disastrous Operation Eagle Claw successful 1980, erstwhile a U.S. Special Forces ngo attempted to rescue hostages held aft the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover successful Tehran. A sandstorm successful Tabas aborted the ngo and 8 work members died erstwhile a chopper crashed into a C-120 refueling craft there. Iran's theocracy agelong has portrayed the ngo arsenic God defeating the Americans.

Araghchi wrote connected X that “Iran enters diplomacy with unfastened eyes and a dependable representation of the past year.”

“Commitments request to beryllium honored,” helium wrote. “Equal standing, communal respect and communal involvement are not rhetoric — they are a indispensable and the pillars of a durable agreement.”

Ahead of the meeting, a apical advisor to Khamenei appeared to connection the theocracy's enactment to the 63-year-old vocation diplomat.

Araghchi “is a skilled, strategical and trustworthy negotiator astatine the highest levels of decision-making and subject intelligence,” Ali Shamkhani wrote connected X. “Soldiers of the federation successful the equipped forces & generals of diplomacy, acting nether the bid of the Leader, volition safeguard the nation’s interests.”

On the U.S. side, it appeared that talks would beryllium led by U.S. Mideast peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff, a 68-year-old billionaire New York existent property mogul and longtime person to Trump. Traveling with Witkoff connected his Mideast travel truthful acold is Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who successful caller weeks has shared proposals for the Gaza Strip and took portion successful trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine successful Abu Dhabi earlier connected the trip.

The 2 men had traveled from Abu Dhabi to Qatar connected Thursday nighttime for meetings with officials there, the Qatari-funded outer quality web Al Jazeera reported. Qatar, which shares an offshore earthy state tract successful the Persian Gulf with Iran, besides hosts a large U.S. subject installation that Iran attacked backmost successful the June war.

Nuclear programme connected the array astatine the least

It remains unclear conscionable what presumption Iran volition beryllium consenting to negociate astatine the talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks lone volition beryllium connected its atomic program. However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a connection successful which Tehran would halt enrichment for 3 years, nonstop its highly enriched uranium retired of the state and pledge “not initiate the usage of ballistic missiles.”

Russia had signaled it would instrumentality the uranium, but Shamkhani successful an interrogation earlier this week had said ending the programme oregon shipping retired the uranium were nonstarters for the country. Meanwhile, the talks would not see immoderate pledge by Iran implicit its self-described “Axis of Resistance,” a web of militias successful the portion allied to Tehran arsenic a deterrent to some Israel and the U.S. However, Israeli attacks connected the militias during its warfare connected Hamas successful the Gaza Strip decimated the network.

Rubio, America's apical diplomat, said talks needed to see each those issues.

“I deliberation successful bid for talks to really pb to thing meaningful, they volition person to see definite things, and that includes the scope of their ballistic missiles,” Rubio told journalists Wednesday. “That includes their sponsorship of violent organizations crossed the region. That includes the atomic program, and that includes the attraction of their ain people.”

He added: “I’m not definite you tin scope a woody with these guys, but we’re going to effort to find out.” ___

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