Iranian and U.S. negotiators will return to their respective countries for consultations after Oman-brokered talks in Muscat, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
“This is a good start,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television. “We are building trust.”
Asked if and when talks would continue, Araghchi was noncommittal. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on the 1st that decisions on further negotiations would be made “in consultation with the respective capitals.”
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Busaidi described the talks as “very serious.”
Busaidi said the talks were aimed at clarifying both sides’ positions and identifying possible starting points for progress, and planned to continue “in due course.”
The United States initially made no statement after the meeting.
Oman’s foreign minister said Busaidi met separately with Araghchi, special envoy Steve Witkoff and a U.S. delegation led by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“Consultations are focused on creating appropriate conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations,” Oman’s foreign ministry wrote.
The involvement of Admiral Brad Cooper, commander-in-chief of the US armed forces in the region, is seen as a “show of strength to increase pressure” on Iran, online portal Noor News reported.
Threat of war
The talks came against the backdrop of Trump’s repeated threats to resort to military action, in part because of a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces on demonstrators during recent massive protests, in which thousands are said to have been killed.
U.S. forces have since expanded their presence in the region, and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and other ships have arrived in the Middle East.
Regional powers including Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been mediating intensively in recent days. Their government maintains pragmatic relations with Iran and has no interest in regional war.
The crux of the nuclear problem
According to previous reports by Iranian state media, the Iranian delegation intends to specifically discuss Tehran’s nuclear program in negotiations with the United States. However, Washington is also seeking to address Iran’s ballistic missile program, support for regional militias and treatment of its own people.
Washington and Tehran held talks last year over Iran’s nuclear program, but the talks stalled, with the United States demanding that Iran’s leadership halt uranium enrichment entirely.
Just one day before the sixth round of talks, scheduled for June 2025, Israel attacked Iran, triggering a counterattack from Tehran.
Less than a week later, U.S. forces entered the war and bombed key nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic. Trump said Iran’s nuclear facilities had been completely destroyed in the attack.
Tehran is prepared to limit its nuclear program but sees a complete abandonment of uranium enrichment as a red line.
Iran’s leader also categorically ruled out talks on its domestic missile program before the meeting.
Tehran hopes the talks will lift crippling international sanctions and lead to economic recovery. The most recent large-scale demonstrations were triggered by the country’s severe economic crisis in late December and subsequently escalated into a political uprising.
At the height of the protests, Trump pledged support for demonstrators and publicly backed a change of power in Tehran.
Many demonstrators are now critical of the resumption of negotiations. They are calling for a change of power and fear new negotiations could strengthen Tehran’s leadership.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Muscat to meet with his Omani counterpart ahead of Oman-mediated talks with the United States on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Iran and the United States are scheduled to hold negotiations in Oman on February 6, 2026. Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
