Politics White House: Negotiations with Iran on Friday
The USA wants to start new negotiations with Iran over its controversial nuclear program this Friday in the Gulf state of Oman. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, are to attend on behalf of the United States. The White House confirmed the talks previously announced by Iran.
05.02.2026, 19:42
05.02.2026, 22:15
SDA
Trump has spoken out clearly against any nuclear activities by Iran, said US government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. He wanted to examine whether an agreement could be reached. Leavitt pointed out that Trump, as commander-in-chief of "the most powerful army in the world, has many other options besides diplomacy".
The agenda remains unclear. According to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iran wants to limit itself to the Iranian nuclear program and a possible easing of sanctions. The USA, on the other hand, is insisting that Iran's missile program and support for Iran's allies such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Houthi in Yemen should also be on the agenda.
Araghchi had already announced the nuclear talks for Friday at 10.00 a.m. (local time) in the Omani capital Muscat on Wednesday. Shortly beforehand, there had been media speculation that the format had been canceled.
Diplomacy instead of attacks?
Trump had declared a few weeks ago that both countries wanted to talk to each other again. Previously, the Republican had threatened the Iranian leadership with attacks after the Iranian security apparatus brutally cracked down on mass protests.
On Wednesday, Trump addressed words of warning to the country's supreme leader. When asked whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should currently be concerned, Trump replied to NBC News: "I would say he should be very concerned." Trump did not directly give a specific reason for this. However, he referred to negotiations between the two countries. In the event that Iran tried to rebuild its nuclear program, the US president threatened to do "bad things" to the country's leadership.
Many Iranians, who demonstrated against the Islamic Republic's authoritarian system of rule at the beginning of January, are critical of new negotiations. They are calling for a change of power and fear that new talks will now strengthen the government in Tehran. Thousands of demonstrators are said to have been killed on the nights of January 8 and 9.
Vance considers diplomacy with Iran difficult
It is unclear whether the diplomatic route will be successful - US Vice President JD Vance considers diplomacy with Iran to be extremely difficult. The reason for this is that Ayatollah Khamenei makes all strategic decisions, but does not speak directly with the USA. "It's bizarre that we can't simply talk to the actual leadership of a country. It makes diplomacy very difficult," Vance said on the "Megyn Kelly Show".
Vance went on to say, "Frankly, I think it's extraordinarily difficult to do diplomacy with them. The person who makes the decisions in Iran is the Supreme Leader. The President, it is said, has little influence and plays no decisive role. The foreign minister seems to talk to the Supreme Leader, and that is essentially the person we have been communicating with." This makes everything much more complicated and the whole situation much more absurd.
US Secretary on Iran's leadership: Rats abandoning ship
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took an unusually harsh view of the leadership in Tehran. The US government had seen how the Iranian leadership was "madly moving money out of the country". "So the rats are leaving the sinking ship", he told a Senate committee. Bessent saw this as a "good sign" that Tehran knew that the end could be near.
