DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Talks between Iran and the United States are expected to take place Friday in Oman, Iranian media reported, as tensions between the countries remain high following Tehran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.
The semiofficial ISNA and Tasnim news agencies and the Student News Network reported on Wednesday that talks would take place in Oman, though the sultanate did not immediately confirm it. Oman has hosted multiple rounds of nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. in the past.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. officials were working on maintaining a meeting this week. The U.S. has not acknowledged the talks would take place in Oman. Iran's mission to the U.N. did not respond to a request for comment about the status of the talks.
There are significant obstacles. A regional official said Iran was seeking a “different” type of meeting than that proposed by Turkey, one 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump previously suggested the U.S. might use force against Iran in response to its crackdown on protesters, and is pushing Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program.
Rubio hopes talks will go beyond nuclear ones
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.
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 of Tehran’s political system, overseen by Khamenei.
“It’s a very weird country to conduct diplomacy with when you can’t even talk to the person who’s in charge of the country. That makes all of this much more complicated, and it makes the whole situation much more absurd,” Vance said, noting that Trump could speak directly by phone with the leaders of Russia, China or North Korea.
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.
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.”
Talks expected even after U.S. shot down Iranian drone
On Tuesday, a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that approached an American aircraft carrier. Iranian fast boats from its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Navy said.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge either incident, which strained but apparently did not derail hopes for talks with the U.S.
On Wednesday, Iranian military chiefs visited a missile base in an attempt to highlight its military readiness after a 12-day war with Israel in June devastated Iran’s air defenses. The base holds the Khorramshahr missile, which has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and was launched towards Israel during the war last year.
Turkey urges diplomacy
Also Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s opposition to foreign intervention in neighboring Iran, calling for the resolution of issues through dialogue.
Turkey has been urgently working for the past week to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, and was previously expected to host the talks.
“We believe that external interventions involving our neighbor Iran would pose significant risks for the entire region,” Erdogan said during a visit to Cairo. “Resolving issues with Iran, including the nuclear file, through diplomatic means is the most appropriate approach.”
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Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Farnoush Amiri in New York, Moriah Balingit in Washington, and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.