Oman Says 3rd Round of Talks Between US, Iran to Take Place Thursday

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Feb. 22 that the United States and Iran would hold a third round of talks about Tehran’s nuclear program in Geneva, Switzerland.

The first round of talks was held in Oman on Feb. 6. Albusaidi said the next round would take place on Feb. 26, “with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a Feb. 22 post on X that his country is committed to peace and stability in the region.

“Recent negotiations involved the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals,” he said. “However, we continue to closely monitor U.S. actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario.”

Iran has repeatedly claimed that it is not seeking to create a nuclear weapon and only wants to use the technology for an atomic energy program.

The United States, Israel, the UK, and the European Union have all derided that claim and insist that Iran curtail its uranium enrichment program.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading the U.S. negotiating team, said on Feb. 21 that Trump was surprised that Iran had not conceded to the demands of the international community.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated,’ because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they haven’t … I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated,’ but why they haven’t capitulated,” Witkoff said during an interview with Fox News.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Witkoff’s comments in a post on X, saying: “Curious to know why we do not capitulate? Because we are Iranian.”

Trump warned on Feb. 19 that a “meaningful deal” must be reached or “bad things” would happen.

On Jan. 28, Trump said he had dispatched a “massive armada” headed by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the waters of the Middle East. Trump told reporters on Feb. 13 that a second U.S. carrier strike group was ready to sail for the Middle East.

On Feb. 20, according to reports, naval observers spotted elements of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, heading east toward the Suez Canal. Aboard were four squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets and a squadron of E/A-18G Growlers.

Araghchi said on Feb. 17 that the two countries “were able to reach a general understanding on a set of guiding principles” after a second round of talks in Geneva.

During a Fox News interview on Feb. 17, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Trump had set some red lines that the Iranians were “not yet willing to actually acknowledge.”

“The United States has certain red lines,” Vance said. “Our primary interest here is we don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. We don’t want nuclear proliferation. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, there are a lot of other regimes, some friendly, some not so friendly, who would get nuclear weapons after them.”

Ryan Morgan and Reuters contributed to this report.