High-stakes talks between US and Iran in Oman come to an end
DPA
Fri, February 6, 2026 at 4:43 PM UTC
3 min read
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Iranian and US negotiators are returning to their home countries for consultations after talks in Muscat mediated by Oman, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
"It was a good start," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television. "We are in the process of building trust."
When asked whether and when the talks would continue, Araghchi did not commit himself. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on X that the decision over further rounds of negotiations would be made "in consultation with the respective capitals."
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Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi described the talks as "very serious."
Al-Busaidi said the talks aimed to clarify both sides' positions and identify possible starting points for progress and are planned to continue "in due course."
There was initially no statement from the United States after the meeting.
The Omani Foreign Minister said al-Busaidi had met separately with Araghchi and with the US delegation led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
"The consultations focused on creating appropriate conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations," the Omani ministry wrote.
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The participation of Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces in the region, was viewed as "a power display to increase pressure" in Iran, according to the online portal Nour News.
Threat of war
The talks took place against the backdrop of repeated threats by Trump to resort to military action, in part because of the brutal crackdown by Iran's state security forces on demonstrators during recent mass protests, in which thousands of people are said to have been killed.
The US military has since expanded its presence in the region, with the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other ships reaching the Middle East.
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Regional powers including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been mediating intensively in recent days. Their governments maintain pragmatic relations with Iran and have no interest in a regional war.
The nuclear sticking point
According to earlier reports from Iranian state media, Iran's delegation intended to focus exclusively on Tehran's nuclear programme in the negotiations with the US. Washington, however, was also seeking to address Iran's ballistic missile programme, its support for regional militias and its treatment of its own people.
Washington and Tehran conducted negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme last year, but the talks stalled, with the US demanding that Iran's leadership completely halt its uranium enrichment.
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Just one day before the start of the planned sixth round of talks in June 2025, Israel attacked Iran, prompting counterstrikes by Tehran.
Less than a week later, the US military joined the war and bombed key nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic. Trump said Iran's nuclear facilities had been completely destroyed in the attacks.
Tehran is prepared to limit its nuclear programme, but considers completely abandoning uranium enrichment a red line.
The Iranian leadership also categorically ruled out negotiations on its domestic missile programme ahead of the meeting.
Tehran hopes negotiations will lead to the lifting of harsh international sanctions and an economic upswing. The latest mass demonstrations were triggered at the end of December by the country's severe economic crisis, before they escalated into a political uprising.
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At the height of the protests, Trump pledged his support to the demonstrators and spoke out in support of a change of power in Tehran.
Many of the demonstrators are now critical of the resumption of talks. They are calling for a change of power and fear that new negotiations could strengthen the leadership in Tehran.
