The Iranian regime seems to be doing everything possible to derail Friday’s scheduled talks between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, including last-minute demands for a change of venue from Turkey to Oman.
Iranian officials mostly insist they are open to talks but come up with qualifiers and reservations that make actual meetings impossible to hold.
Araghchi, for example, said on Monday that Iran was always ready for diplomacy, provided “the people of Iran” are “spoken to with respect.” This presumably does not include the thousands of people of Iran that Araghchi’s regime decided to imprison and murder over the past few weeks to remain in power.
Araghchi’s office said on Monday that Istanbul was an acceptable venue and the talks with Witkoff were set to proceed – provided the U.S. refrained from making “threats” and accepted sanctions relief for Iran as a “fundamental and non-negotiable priority.”
Araghchi and Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei even made a point of thanking Turkey for offering to host the meeting.
On Tuesday, the first rumors surfaced that Iran was demanding a change of venue from Turkey to Oman. Baghaei gave a press conference that day in which he waved aside the question of location and timing, saying they were “not complex issues and should not serve as a pretext for media games.”
Baghaei also slammed the United States, and the “Israeli regime,” for allegedly taking “destabilizing actions” that made negotiations more difficult.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on social media Tuesday that he was still in favor of Araghchi meeting with Witkoff – provided they could find a “suitable environment,” free from “threats and unreasonable expectations,” where they could “pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency.”
On Wednesday, Iranian state-controlled media flatly stated that the location for the talks had been changed to Oman, and suggested Araghchi might refuse to attend if President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was present.
Iranian media accounts also said the talks would be solely focused on Iran’s nuclear program, while the U.S. has always wanted more wide-ranging discussions.
“In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region, that includes a nuclear program, and that includes the treatment of their own people,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.
“The Iranians want to change the agenda, participants, and the venue of the meeting – so, basically, this is altogether a different meeting they are talking about now. They want to show that this is a new round of the previous nuclear talks in Oman,” a Middle Eastern diplomatic source told The National.
Two U.S. officials told Axios on Wednesday that the Trump administration has rejected Iran’s demand for a change of venue, and the talks could be off – which would bring President Trump a step closer to ordering military action against Iran.
“We told them it is this or nothing, and they said, ‘Ok, then nothing,’” one of the officials said.
CBS News, on the other hand, quoted sources on Wednesday who said the talks were still on track and could be held in Oman. According to these sources, Washington is willing to shift the venue to Oman because Iran is willing to engage in direct negotiations without intermediaries, an arrangement Tehran has long resisted.
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