U.S. Iran to hold nuclear talks in Oman amid heightened tensions

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) said preparations were completed for holding talks with the U.S. in the coming days, hours after the U.S. military said it had shot down an Iranian drone that approached its aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. U.S. President Donald Trump also said in Washington that his administration is “negotiating” with Tehran.

“Planning [for the talks] has already been carried out, and that details on the venue will be announced once finalised,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday, according to state-owned Press TV. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he had instructed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to hold “fair and equitable” negotiations with the U.S.

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Mr. Trump, while speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday (February 3), said: “[The talks] are all over. But they are negotiating. They’d like to do something, and we’ll see if something is going to be done.”

“They had a chance to do something a while ago, and it didn’t work out, and we did (Operation) Midnight Hammer,” he said, referring to the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025 during the 12-day Iran-Israel war. “I don’t think they want that happening again, but they would like to negotiate,” he added.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Mr. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to have talks with Iranian officials later this week.

Mr. Trump, who has sent attack jets, warships and a carrier strike group to West Asia, has repeatedly threatened to use military force against Iran, first over its crackdown of protesters on January 8-9 and then, again, over its nuclear programme, which he claimed to have “obliterated” in June 2025. U.S. media had earlier reported that talks between Foreign Minister Araghchi and Mr. Witkoff were expected to take place in Istanbul. But on Wednesday, Mr. Baghaei refused to confirm the location. He said Turkiye, Oman and several other regional countries have declared their readiness to host the talks. “In principle, the time and place of the talks are not complicated issues and should not be used as a pretext for media manoeuvring.”

While the U.S., along with threats and troop mobilisation, signalled a readiness for diplomacy, Iran reciprocated with diplomatic engagement coupled with warnings that any attack could trigger a regional war. Iran also conducted live-fire military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman which opens into the Arabian Sea. U.S. Central Command issued a warning to Tehran on January 31, stating any “unsafe and unprofessional behaviour near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilisation”.

On February 3, the Central Command said, an Iranian Shahed-139 drone “unnecessarily manoeuvred” towards USS Abraham Lincoln, which was sailing about 800 km from Iran’s Southern coast. An F-35C fighter from the Lincoln shot the drone down, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command. “No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no U.S. equipment was damaged,” he said.

In a separate incident, two Iranian boats, accompanied by a Mohajer surveillance drone, tried to seize a U.S.-flagged tanker near the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. guided missile destroyer escorted M/V Stena Imperative to safety “with defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force,” said Capt. Hawkins.

Iran’s Fars news agency carried a report on Tuesday (February 3), saying the primary mission of the drones was “monitoring all military movements in areas adjacent to the Islamic Republic. “The Shahed-129 drone was conducting its routine and legal mission of reconnaissance, monitoring, and imaging in international waters. This is considered a standard and lawful procedure,” said a report in Tasnim, another semi-official news agency. “The drone successfully transmitted its surveillance and reconnaissance footage to the command centre, claimed the report.