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Tehran, Iran \u2013 Iranian authorities have described the latest talks with the United States as \u201cpositive\u201d, but the mediated negotiations in Oman offered no roadmap to alleviate growing fears of a US attack.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s team in Muscat on Friday was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while Washington sent special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner. US Central Command chief Brad Cooper, the most senior commander in the region, also joined the US delegation.<\/p>\n
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Speaking to Iranian television in Muscat after the talks finished, Araghchi said the indirect talks got off to \u201ca good start\u201d and that a decision on how to proceed with further rounds would be taken after \u201cconsulting with the capitals\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Araghchi cautioned that there was a climate of \u201cmistrust\u201d after the US military attacked Iran\u2019s nuclear sites when it briefly joined Israel\u2019s 12-day war with Iran in June, days before a sixth round of similarly mediated indirect talks had been scheduled.<\/p>\n
Oman\u2019s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi met with the US and Iranian sides separately multiple times on Friday and conveyed messages between the teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress,\u201d he said, adding that the aim is to \u201creconvene in due course\u201d.<\/p>\n
Consultations \u201cfocused on creating appropriate conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations\u201d, according to a statement from Oman\u2019s Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n
The talks in Muscat come as US President Donald Trump considers military options against Iran. The US has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln supercarrier<\/a> and supporting warships and fighter jets near Iranian waters, strengthened air defences in bases used by the US military across the region, while US forces also shot down an Iranian drone this week.<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if it does not reach a new agreement with the US on several issues.<\/p>\n Red lines<\/p>\n The US wants Iran to fully abandon enriching uranium, even at the 3.67 percent civilian-use rate agreed under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that Trump unilaterally abandoned in 2018. Iran used to enrich up to 60 percent before its main nuclear facilities were destroyed or significantly damaged by US bombs in June.<\/p>\n Washington also wants to limit the range of Iran\u2019s ballistic missiles \u2013 the main tool in the country\u2019s arsenal \u2013 and ensure that Tehran\u2019s aligned armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria will no longer receive any military or financial support.<\/p>\n Several European powers have expressed support for the US demands, as has the far-right government in Israel, which wants to undermine a substantive military rival in the region.<\/p>\n But the Iranian government has repeatedly emphasised that it will only negotiate on nuclear issues to lift sanctions and de-escalate, saying that discussions on missiles or any other subject were a red line. As Araghchi reiterated on Friday, it also wants the US threats of war to end.<\/p>\n Iranian commanders have also said they remain highly prepared for a regional-scale war, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday showed a new test launch of one of the country\u2019s top ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n Iranian Press TV said the Khorramshahr-4 missile, capable of reaching Israel and US bases across the region, was put on a mobile launcher taken out from an underground base<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yadollah Javani, the political deputy for the IRGC, said that \u201cunveiling the missile means that although we have sat down at the negotiating table, we will not give up our military power\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Conditions more severe than war\u2019<\/p>\n People in Iran are closely following the developments.<\/p>\n But there are fewer signs of the cautious optimism seen during five rounds of previous negotiations held last year in the lead-up to the 12-day war with Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Soroush, a Tehran resident, told Al Jazeera he hopes the negotiations can lift the shadow of war hanging over Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWar not only brings fear and anxiety, but also doubles the economic pressure,\u201d he said, as the country deals with one of the\u00a0highest inflation rates in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n But another resident, Maryam, said she believes the negotiations will not succeed \u201cand will definitely lead to war\u201d, due to clashing positions of the two sides.<\/p>\n