Iran said on Friday it was giving high-level nuclear talks with the United States on Saturday “a genuine chance”, after President Donald Trump threatened bombing if discussions failed.
Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that Washington and Tehran would begin talks in Oman, a Gulf state that has mediated between the West and the Islamic Republic before.
The January return to the White House of Trump, who in his first term withdrew the US from a 2015 big-power accord with Tehran, has again brought a tougher approach to a Middle Eastern power whose nuclear programme Washington’s ally Israel regards as an existential threat.
At the same time, Iran and allied groups have been weakened by the military offensives Israel has launched across the region, including air strikes in Iran, after being attacked from Gaza by Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023.
The Iranian foreign ministry said on Friday that the U.S. should value the Islamic Republic’s decision to engage in talks despite what it called Washington’s “prevailing confrontational hoopla”.
“We intend to assess the other side’s intent and resolve this Saturday,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei posted on X. “In earnest and with candid vigilance, we are giving diplomacy a genuine chance.”
US air attacks on Yemen’s Houthis, who are aligned with Iran and have hit international shipping lanes in the Red Sea in support of Hamas, have stirred speculation that Washington might be preparing to attack Iran.
Meanwhile, Israel has resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, which has also received support from Iran, after several weeks of truce, and its ceasefire with the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia remains brittle.
