Shafaq News- Washington/ Tehran

Iran’s nuclear talks with the United States will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday in Muscat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday, countering reports that the negotiating track was close to collapse.

Araghchi’s confirmation came hours after US President Donald Trump warned that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei should be “very worried,” as Washington steps up pressure while preparing for the talks. In an interview with NBC News, Trump said Iran “is negotiating with us,” remarks delivered as the United States reinforces its military posture in the region ahead of the planned meeting.

Earlier today, Axios reported that negotiations faced the risk of unraveling after Washington rejected Iranian requests to change the venue and format of the talks.

A US official also confirmed to Reuters that Iranian–American talks will take place in Oman on Friday. Axios later reported that plans for the Muscat meeting were put back on track following pressure from Arab and Muslim leaders, with nine regional countries urging the Trump administration not to cancel the talks and to hear Iran’s position. According to the report, Washington agreed to proceed with the meeting in deference to requests from regional allies.

Iran and the United States had initially discussed holding a meeting in Istanbul with other parties attending as observers. Tehran then sought to move the talks to Muscat and limit them to a bilateral format, aiming to confine discussions to the nuclear file and exclude issues such as ballistic missiles, which remain a priority for Washington and its regional partners.