The talks are being held in Muscat, Oman, where President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is meeting indirectly with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi is serving as the intermediary. According to Iranian state media, the U.S. and Iranian delegations are in separate rooms and are exchanging written messages through Omani mediators.
Oman has positioned itself as a facilitator in hopes of reviving a diplomatic channel that stalled after earlier negotiations collapsed. Those talks unraveled amid rising regional instability and recent U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. President Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran during his first term, a decision that reshaped the trajectory of U.S.-Iran relations.
The renewed discussions come during a period of sharp strain between the two countries. In recent weeks, Washington bombed Iranian nuclear sites, while Tehran launched a violent crackdown on nationwide protests. Additional tensions emerged this week after Iran announced it had seized two foreign oil tankers near its territorial waters, accusing them of fuel smuggling. Iranian authorities said the crews were detained and referred to judicial officials, framing the action as a law enforcement operation, though few details have been released.
Despite the nuclear focus of the talks, the broader U.S. agenda remains unclear. President Trump has not publicly outlined specific objectives for Iran but has issued repeated threats and has left open the possibility of regime change. Asked by NBC News on Wednesday whether Iran’s supreme leader should be concerned, Trump replied, “I would say he should be very worried, yeah. He should be.”
Trump also suggested that Iran may be attempting to rebuild its nuclear program following U.S. strikes. “They were thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country,” he said. “We found out about it. I said, ‘You do that, we’re gonna do very bad things to you.’”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has emphasized that any durable agreement would need to go beyond nuclear issues. He has said it must also address Iran’s missile program, its regional activities, and its human rights record—areas that Iranian leaders have consistently resisted including in negotiations.
“I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going to try to find out,” Rubio said ahead of the talks. “We don’t see there’s any harm in trying to figure out there’s something that can be done. This is a president that always prefers a peaceful outcome to any conflict or any challenge the time for one.”
The diplomatic effort is unfolding as the U.S. continues military operations in the Middle East. According to NBC News, American forces are still flying aircraft, deploying land-based air defense systems, and moving naval assets into the region. The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying ships are reportedly nearing striking distance of Tehran.
U.S. officials maintain that these military movements are responses to ongoing regional tensions rather than preparations for an imminent operation. Still, the combination of diplomacy, military pressure, and unresolved political objectives underscores the fragile and uncertain path ahead for U.S.-Iran relations.
