- Trump has said Khamenei “should be very worried.”
- The United States wants missiles, representatives and rights issues included.
- Fears are growing that the failed talks could spark a wider war.
The White House said Thursday that diplomacy is President Donald Trump's first option for dealing with Iran and that he will wait to see if a deal can be reached in high-stakes talks, but also warned that he has military options at his disposal.
Final preparations for Friday's meeting in Oman were underway amid rising tensions as the United States builds up forces in the Middle East, which Trump has called a massive “armada,” and regional players seek to avoid what many fear could turn into a broader war.
Talks were due to continue even though the two sides had differences over the agenda, and that has raised doubts about the prospects for a deal. Trump has threatened to carry out attacks on Iran if a deal cannot be reached.
The United States previously said it wanted discussions to include Iran's missile arsenal and other issues, while Tehran has insisted on focusing exclusively on its controversial nuclear program. It was unclear whether that disagreement had been resolved.
“The president's diplomacy is always his first choice when it comes to dealing with countries around the world, whether they are our allies or our adversaries,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when asked about the upcoming talks.
He reiterated Trump's position that “zero nuclear capability is something he's been very explicit about” in his demands for Iran.
“He wants to see if a deal can be reached,” Leavitt said. “And as these negotiations take place, I would like to remind the Iranian regime that the president has many options at his disposal, other than diplomacy, as commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the history of the world.”
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi left for Oman on Thursday. His spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said Tehran would engage “with authority and reach a fair, mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue.”
“We hope that the American side will also participate in this process with responsibility, realism and seriousness,” Baghaei added.
Araqchi is expected to meet in Muscat with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser.
Ahead of the talks, Iranian state television Press TV said that “one of the country's most advanced long-range ballistic missiles,” the Khorramshahr 4, has been deployed at one of the Revolutionary Guards' underground missile sites. The missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and is capable of carrying a 1,500 kg (3,300 pound) warhead, he added.
The United States has pressured Iran to accept a much more limited range for its missiles.
Mutual threats
Trump's blunt warnings and Iran's promises to fight back have spurred efforts by regional governments to calm the situation.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his government was working hard to prevent tensions between the United States and Iran from leading the Middle East into a new conflict. He has spent years cultivating a close relationship with Trump while expanding Ankara's diplomatic influence across the region.
Speaking to reporters on a flight back from a visit to Egypt, Erdogan added that talks at the level of the American and Iranian leaders would be useful after lower-level nuclear negotiations planned in Oman on Friday, according to a transcript of his comments shared by his office on Thursday.
Tensions rose this week amid uncertainty over the location and format of the talks, which will follow Tehran's bloody crackdown on street protests last month.
Asked Wednesday whether Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, should be worried, Trump told NBC News: “I would say he should be very worried. Yes, he should be.”
After Trump spoke, U.S. and Iranian officials said the two sides had agreed to move the location of the talks to Muscat after initially agreeing to Istanbul.
At a news conference in Doha, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that during his meetings with officials during a visit to the Gulf region, “great concern” had been expressed about a possible escalation of the conflict with Iran. He urged Iran to end what he called aggression and help bring stability to the region.
Arab Gulf states fear that Iran will follow through on its threat to attack US bases on its territory if the US attacks the Islamic Republic.
China, meanwhile, said it supported Iran's legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and opposed the “threat of force and sanctions pressure.”
'Bad things will happen'
Iran has said talks should be limited to its long-running nuclear dispute with Western powers.
But U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that talks would have to include the range of Iran's ballistic missiles, its support for armed groups in the Middle East and its treatment of its own people, in addition to nuclear issues. Iranian sources say the United States is demanding that Tehran limit the range of Iranian missiles to 500 kilometers (310 miles).
Tehran's regional influence has been weakened by Israel's attacks on its proxies – from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq – and by the overthrow of Iran's close ally, former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Iran says its nuclear activities are for peaceful, not military, purposes, while the United States and Israel have accused it of past efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
The United States has sent thousands of troops to the Middle East, as well as an aircraft carrier, other warships, fighter jets, spy planes and refueling tankers.
Trump has warned that “bad things” would likely happen if a deal could not be reached.
