Iran is demanding that talks with the US on Friday be held in Oman not Türkiye, and that the scope be narrowed to two-way talks on nuclear issues only, a regional source said yesterday, casting doubt on whether the meeting will go ahead as planned.
Iran’s effort to change the venue and agenda for the talks, currently scheduled in Istanbul, came amid heightened tensions as the US builds up forces in the Middle East.
Regional players have pushed for resolution of a standoff that has led to mutual threats of air strikes.
The US military yesterday shot down an Iranian drone that ‘aggressively’ approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said, in an incident first reported by Reuters.
US President Donald Trump said that with big US warships heading to Iran, ‘bad things’ would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
“They want to change the format, they want to change the scope,” said the regional diplomat with knowledge of Iran’s demands.
“They only want to discuss the nuclear file with the Americans while the US wants to include other topics such as the (ballistic) missiles and the activities of Iran’s proxies in the region.”
White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that talks with Iran were still scheduled to take place later this week.
A source familiar with the situation said that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was due to take part in the talks, along with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
Ministers from several other countries in the region were also expected to attend.
An Iranian diplomatic source said earlier that Tehran’s view of the talks is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, adding that the Islamic republic’s defensive capabilities are non-negotiable and that it is ready for any scenario.
“It remains to be seen whether the United States also intends to conduct serious, results-oriented negotiations or not,” the source said.
Oil futures prices rose more than $1 per barrel after news the drone was shot down.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier ‘with unclear intent’ and was shot down by an F-35 fighter jet, the US military said.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said connection had been lost with a drone in international waters, but the reason was unknown.
No American service members were harmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he added.
The Lincoln carrier strike group is the most visible part of a US military buildup in the Middle East following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.
In a separate incident yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, just hours after the drone shootdown, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces harassed a US-flagged, US-crewed merchant vessel, according to the US military.
“Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military’s Central Command, said.
Maritime risk management group Vanguard said the Iranian boats ordered the tanker to stop its engine and prepare to be boarded. Instead, the tanker sped up and continued its voyage.
Hawkins said a US Navy warship, the McFaul, was operating in the area and escorted the Stena Imperative.
“The situation de-escalated as a result, and the US-flagged tanker is proceeding safely,” Hawkins added.
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