Iran says nuclear talks with U.S. will proceed after near collapse

Iran said nuclear talks with the United States will proceed in Oman after negotiations came close to collapsing over Iran’s insistence that discussions be limited strictly to its nuclear program, according to Axios.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday afternoon that the talks are scheduled for around 10 a.m. local time Friday in Muscat, Oman, which is 1 a.m. Eastern Time.

The meeting had previously been planned for Istanbul, but Iran pushed to move the talks to Oman and limit them to a bilateral format focused exclusively on nuclear issues, according to Axios.

Axios reported that the original framework called for two tracks: direct U.S.-Iran talks on a nuclear agreement and separate multilateral discussions on Iran’s missile program, support for proxy groups, and human rights issues linked to recent protests.

U.S. officials told Iran that abandoning the broader framework would end the talks altogether. A senior U.S. official told Axios, “We told them it is this or nothing, and they said, ‘Ok, then nothing.’”

Officials from several Middle Eastern countries contacted the White House at senior levels, asking Washington to keep the meeting from falling apart and to hear Iran out, according to the report.

U.S. officials told Axios they agreed to proceed with the Oman meeting despite deep skepticism about Iran’s intentions.

Before the dispute over the scope of the talks intensified, President Trump was asked by NBC News correspondent Tom Llamas whether Iran’s supreme leader should be concerned. Trump responded, “I would say he should be very worried.”

Analysts have described the talks as the last significant diplomatic opening before the Trump administration considers other options.