Iran Turns Tables: America Offered Chance to Make Next Move in Oman Talks

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has stated that discussions with the United States concerning Tehran’s nuclear program, set to occur in Oman on Saturday, will present an “opportunity.”

President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that the talks would be direct and warned of dire consequences for Iran if the negotiations failed to persuade them to abandon their nuclear weapons program.

Following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump remarked that Iran would not acquire nuclear weapons.

He added, “We’re dealing with them directly and maybe a deal is going to be made.”

Trump continued, “doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious.”

‘Very Bad Day for Iran’

When asked about the potential for military action against Iran if the talks collapsed, Trump emphasized, “Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it. If the talks aren’t successful, I think it’s going to be a very bad day for Iran.”

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Last month Trump warned, “If they [the Iranians] don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.” In a telephone interview with NBC News on March 30, he stated, “It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before. There’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago.”

Reacting to these remarks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov voiced in an interview with International Affairs, a Russian political journal, that a U.S. attack on Iran would have a “catastrophic” impact on the Middle East.

On March 5, the Kremlin proposed to mediate between Iran and the United States to prevent a military confrontation between the two nations.

Moscow and Tehran are political and military allies, with Iran providing thousands of Shahed drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine conflict.

Last month, Trump penned a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, urging direct negotiations.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian later declared that Iran had rebuffed Trump’s plea but remained open to the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.

The negotiators from Iran and the United States are scheduled to convene in Oman on Saturday, though the format of the talks remains undisclosed.

Libya-Style Deal Floated

Israel, Iran’s primary military adversary in the Middle East, stands as a staunch ally of the United States. Netanyahu expressed support for a deal similar to the one struck with Libya in 2003, where Moammar Gaddafi abandoned his nuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu stated this week: “I think that would be a good thing. But whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”

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