Washington and Tehran held “very good talks” in Oman regarding the Iranian nuclear project, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday.
As tensions continue to mount in the Gulf region following Trump’s warnings that the Islamic Republic better not crack down on protesters, the president also mentioned in recent interviews that if negotiations between the two nations go well, a military operation can be averted.
On Friday, the American leader told reporters that “we’re in no rush,” though he warned that consequences would be “very steep” if a deal is not reached, The Hill reported.
“You have to get in position. We have plenty of time if you remember Venezuela; we waited around for a while, and we’re in no rush,” the president replied when asked about a timeline.
“We have very good talks going with Iran. We have very good talks going with Russia and Ukraine. We’re doing a lot of good talking,” he said.
Trump continued, “The results today with Iran … , we’re going to meet again early next week.”
According to Axios, negotiations were held in person between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The meeting in Muscat lasted nearly eight hours and was mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, the report continued.
Trump said that Tehran is offering much better terms than those it offered before the war in the summer, Axios reported.
Araghchi on Friday described the meeting as a “very good start,” according to Iran International, an opposition outlet headquartered in London.
Meanwhile, a New York Times satellite imagery-based analysis published on Friday suggests that the Islamic Republic has “rapidly repaired several ballistic missile facilities” damaged during its 12-day war with Israel in June. It further reported that, by contrast, Iran has made only limited fixes to its nuclear sites.
The Times reviewed about two dozen sites and detected construction at more than half of them.
Experts who also track the Iranian nuclear and ballistic-missile programs were cited as saying that the full extent of the repairs is difficult to assess, as the underground construction cannot be captured via satellite imagery.
John Caves, a senior research associate at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, told the Times that “threatening Israel and U.S. bases and allies in the region with missile attacks is one of Iran’s few options to deter repeat strikes on its nuclear facilities.”
Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., stressed that Iran’s emphasis on rebuilding the missile programs “stands in contrast to [its] nuclear program.”
Pointing to the Shahroud missile test facility, east of Tehran, Lair was cited as saying that it appears to have become operational again after the Israeli strikes. He noted that the snow that fell last month was quickly cleared off the roads at the facility, suggesting it is active.
