Iran, US hold nuclear talks as Trump delivers blunt warning to Khamenei

[AP Photo]

Nuclear talks between Iran and the United States will take place today in Oman, the Iranian foreign minister said, as tensions between the countries remain high following Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.

The announcement Wednesday (yesterday, Macau time) by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after hours of indications that the anticipated talks were faltering over changes in the format and content of the talks. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, sent a blunt warning to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of the talks.

“I would say he should be very worried,” Trump said of Khamenei in an interview with NBC News.

Turkey had been working behind the scenes to host talks in Istanbul with regional countries taking part and discussions focused on issues like Iran’s ballistic missile program and other concerns.

Early Wednesday, a regional official said Iran was seeking a “different” type of meeting focused exclusively on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, with participation limited to Iran and the United States. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

A similar series of talks had been hosted last year by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that long as served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West. Those talks ultimately broke down in June as Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran that included the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly, confirmed the talks would happen in Oman. The official said several Arab and Muslim leaders urged the Trump administration on Wednesday not to walk away from talks even as Iranian officials pressed to narrow their scope.

The official added that the White House remains “very skeptical” that the talks will be successful but has agreed to go along with the change in plans out of respect for allies in the region.

Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat once involved in past nuclear negotiations with Tehran, similarly offered a skeptical opinion of talks succeeding.

“Opting for indirect talks is the diplomatic equivalent of a surgeon taking a hit of ether and then putting on gloves before a difficult surgery,” Eyre wrote on X.

Rubio hopes talks will go beyond nuclear ones

Tensions between the countries spiked after Trump suggested the U.S. might use force against Iran in response to the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month that killed thousands of people or if Iran conducted mass executions of detained demonstrators. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Wednesday that over 50,000 people also had been arrested over the protests.

Trump also has been pushing Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program.

Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday said he had instructed the foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the U.S., in the first clear sign from Tehran it wants to try to negotiate. That signaled the move is supported by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state and previously dismissed any negotiations.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. hoped to discuss a number of concerns beyond the nuclear issue, including discussions on Iran’s ballistic missiles, support for proxy networks across the region and the “treatment of their own people.”

“The leadership of Iran at the clerical level does not reflect the people of Iran. I know of no other country where there’s a bigger difference between the people who lead the country and the people who live there,” he told reporters.

Vice President JD Vance told “The Megyn Kelly Show” that diplomatic talks with Iran are challenging because Khamenei oversees Tehran’s political system and declines to speak directly with Trump, unlike the leaders of China, North Korea or Russia.

Vance said Trump’s bottom line is that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, asserting that other states in the region would quickly do the same.

Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, Iranian officials in recent years have increasingly threatened to pursue the bomb and had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Vance said he believed Trump would work to “accomplish what he can through non-military means. And if he feels like the military is the only option, then he’s ultimately going to choose that option.” JON GAMBRELL, DUBAI, MDT/AP