Iran and the United States will hold high-level talks in Oman on Saturday aimed at jump-starting negotiations over Tehran's fast-advancing nuclear programme, with US President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.
Iranian media reported that Iran and US delegations have arrived in Muscat. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is leading the Iranian delegation, while the talks will be handled on the US side by Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Iran is approaching the talks warily, sceptical that they could lead to a deal and suspicious of Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if it does not halt its nuclear programme.
While each side has talked up the chances of some progress, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades and have not agreed on whether the talks will be face-to-face, as Trump demands, or indirect, as Iran wants.
Signs of movement could help cool tensions in a region aflame since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, missile fire between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and the overthrow of the government in Syria.
However, failure would aggravate fears of a wider conflagration across a region that exports much of the world's oil. Tehran has cautioned neighbouring countries that have US bases that they would face "severe consequences" if they were involved in any US military attack on Iran.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who in the Republic's complex power structure has the final say on key state matters, has given Araqchi "full authority" for the talks, an Iranian official told Reuters.
"The duration of the talks, that will only be about the nuclear issue, will depend on the US side's seriousness and goodwill," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Iran has ruled out negotiating its defence capabilities such as its missile programme.
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