Oman Mediates US-Iran Nuclear Talks    02/06 06:00

   Oman mediated indirect talks Friday between Iran and the United States over 
the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, seeking to de-escalate tensions between 
the nations after Washington bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran launched a 
bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

   MUSCAT, Oman (AP) -- Oman mediated indirect talks Friday between Iran and 
the United States over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, seeking to 
de-escalate tensions between the nations after Washington bombed Iranian 
nuclear sites and Tehran launched a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

   Oman issued a public statement acknowledging the talks after Associated 
Press journalists watched Iranian and American officials separately visit a 
palace on the outskirts of Muscat to speak to the sultanate's foreign minister, 
Badr al-Busaidi.

   It wasn't immediately clear if that was the end of the talks for the day. 
However, the palace stood empty after the convoys left.

   The two countries returned Friday to Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge 
of the Arabian Peninsula, months after rounds of meetings turned to ash 
following Israel's launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June. The U.S. 
bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the 
centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel's attacks 
devastated Iran's air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as 
well.

   U.S. officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio believe Iran's theocracy 
is now at its weakest point since its 1979 Islamic Revolution after nationwide 
protests last month represented the greatest challenge to 86-year-old Supreme 
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule. Khamenei's forces responded with a 
crackdown that killed thousands and reportedly saw tens of thousands arrested 
-- and spurred new military threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to target 
the country.

   With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships in the 
region, along with more fighter jets, the U.S. now likely has the military 
firepower to launch an attack if it wanted. But whether attacks could be enough 
to force Iran to change its ways -- or potentially topple its government -- 
remains far from a sure thing.

   Meanwhile, Gulf Arab nations fear an attack could spark a regional war 
dragging them in as well. That threat is real -- already, U.S. forces shot down 
an Iranian drone near the Lincoln and Iran attempted to stop a U.S.-flagged 
ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

   Omani palace hosts talks

   The palace, near Muscat's international airport, had been used by Oman in 
earlier talks between Iran and the U.S. in 2025. AP journalists saw Iranian 
officials at the palace and later returning to their hotel.

   Only after the Iranian vehicles left did another convoy including an SUV 
flying the American flag enter the palace grounds, where it stayed for about an 
hour and a half.

   After that, Oman's Foreign Ministry published a statement saying al-Busaidi 
met separately with Araghchi, then with U.S. Mideast special envoy Steve 
Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. Footage later 
released by the state-run Oman News Agency showed that U.S. Navy Adm. Brad 
Cooper, the head of the American military's Central Command, also attended the 
meeting -- something unusual that hasn't happened in previous rounds.

   "The consultations focused on preparing the appropriate circumstances for 
resuming the diplomatic and technical negotiations by ensuring the importance 
of these negotiations, in light of the parties' determination to ensure their 
success in achieving sustainable security and stability," the Omani 
announcement said.

   Neither the Americans nor the Iranians offered any readout of the meetings.

   Few details on talks ahead of meeting

   Details remained sparse even before the talks began. Officials at Oman's 
borders on Thursday showed particular concern over anyone carrying cameras into 
the sultanate before the negotiations.

   On the Iranian side, Araghchi wrote on X that "Iran enters diplomacy with 
open eyes and a steady memory of the past year."

   "Commitments need to be honored," he wrote. "Equal standing, mutual respect 
and mutual interest are not rhetoric -- they are a must and the pillars of a 
durable agreement."

   A top adviser to Khamenei also appeared to offer the theocracy's support to 
the 63-year-old career diplomat.

   Araghchi "is a skilled, strategic and trustworthy negotiator at the highest 
levels of decision-making and military intelligence," Ali Shamkhani wrote on X. 
"Soldiers of the nation in the armed forces & generals of diplomacy, acting 
under the order of the Leader, will safeguard the nation's interests."

   On the U.S. side, the talks led by Witkoff, a 68-year-old billionaire New 
York real estate mogul and longtime friend to Trump. Traveling with Witkoff on 
his Mideast trip so far is Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who in recent 
weeks has shared proposals for the Gaza Strip and took part in trilateral talks 
with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi earlier on the trip.

   The two men had traveled from Abu Dhabi to Qatar on Thursday night for 
meetings there, the Qatari-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera reported. 
Qatar, which shares an offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf with 
Iran, also hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked in the 
June war.

   Nuclear program on the table at the least

   It remains unclear just what terms Iran will be willing to negotiate at the 
talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks only will be on its nuclear 
program. However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and 
Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three 
years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country and pledge "not 
initiate the use of ballistic missiles."

   Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Shamkhani in an interview 
earlier this week had said ending the program or shipping out the uranium were 
nonstarters.

   Rubio, America's top diplomat, said Wednesday that the talks needed to 
include all those issues.

   "I'm not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we're going to try 
to find out," he said. ___

   The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the 
Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely 
responsible for all content.