US-Iran talks to take place Friday in Oman, Iranian media say
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Talks between Iran and the United States will take place Friday in Oman, Iranian media reported as tensions between the countries remain high following Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.
The semiofficial ISNA and Tasnim news agencies and the Student News Network reported on Wednesday that the talks would take place in Oman, though the sultanate did not immediately confirm it. Oman has hosted multiple rounds of nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. in the past.
U.S. President Donald Trump has previously suggested the U.S. might use force against Iran in response to its crackdown on protesters, and is pushing Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said Trump officials are working on maintaining a meeting this week, though the U.S. has not acknowledged the talks would take place in Oman.
Number of arrests in protests tops 50,000, activists say
Also on Wednesday, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in other rounds of unrest in Iran, said the number of arrests in the government crackdown topped 50,000.
The group said at least 50,834 people have been arrested. It also has said at least 6,876 people were killed in last month’s protests, though there are fears many more may be dead. The protests began over the country’s economic crisis but grew to challenge the theocracy.
The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll due to the sweeping internet shutdown in Iran.
Rubio hopes talks will go beyond nuclear ones
Rubio said the U.S. still planned to participate in talks and hoped to discuss a number of concerns beyond the nuclear issue, including discussions on Iran’s ballistic missiles, support for proxy networks across the region and the “treatment of their own people.”
“The leadership of Iran at the clerical level does not reflect the people of Iran. I know of no other country where there’s a bigger difference between the people who lead the country and the people who live there,” he told reporters.
On Tuesday, Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had instructed the foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the U.S., in the first clear sign from Tehran it wants to try to negotiate.
The shift toward negotiations marked a major turn for Iran, and signals that the move is supported by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state. The 86-year-old cleric previously dismissed any negotiations.
Talks expected even after U.S. shot down Iranian drone
On Tuesday, a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that approached an American aircraft carrier. Iranian fast boats from its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard also tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Navy said.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge either incident, which strained but apparently did not derail hopes for talks with the U.S.
On Wednesday, Iranian military chiefs visited a missile base in an attempt to highlight its military readiness after a 12-day war with Israel in June devastated Iran’s air defenses.
The footage of the visit to a base holding the Khorramshahr missile, which has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and was launched towards Israel during the war last year, will be broadcast on Iranian state television Wednesday evening.
Turkey urges diplomacy
Also Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s opposition to foreign intervention in neighboring Iran, calling for the resolution of issues through dialogue.
Turkey has been urgently working for the past week to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, and was previously expected to host the talks.
“We believe that external interventions involving our neighbor Iran would pose significant risks for the entire region,” Erdogan said during a visit to Cairo. “Resolving issues with Iran, including the nuclear file, through diplomatic means is the most appropriate approach.”
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Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.