Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that nuclear talks between the US and Iran will be held this Friday in Oman.
“Nuclear talks with the United States are scheduled to be held in Muscat on about 10 am Friday,” Araghchi wrote on X. “I’m grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements.”
Araghchi’s post came after Axios journalist Barak Ravid, a former Israeli intelligence officer, reported that the planned talks were falling apart over US demands that they must include discussions on limiting Iran’s ballistic missiles and its support for its allies in the Middle East.
According to Ravid’s reporting, Iran insisted on only discussing the nuclear issue, which US officials initially rejected but later accepted. Iranian officials have been clear that they won’t agree to any deal that would place limits on its missiles, Iran’s only form of deterrence and way to launch counterattacks if bombed by the US or Israel.
Despite the agreement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pushing the idea that a deal is only possible if it includes Iran’s missiles and other issues.
“In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes their nuclear program, and that includes the treatment of their own people,” Rubio said.
Rubio’s demands reflect the Israeli position, which is designed to sabotage any chance of a deal to ensure there is war. President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran in recent weeks and has repeatedly shifted the pretext. He said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “should be very worried” about his threats and buildup in the region.
Before the 12-Day US-Israeli war against Iran in June 2025, the US was engaged in nuclear talks with Iran, and Trump claimed that he was committed to diplomacy with Tehran just hours before the first Israeli airstrikes began.
Trump has been building up US forces in the region, including by deploying the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group. On Tuesday, an F-35 from the Lincoln shot down an Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea while the aircraft carrier was about 500 miles south of the Iranian coast.
