Iran is pushing for talks with the US to take place in Oman instead of Turkey and has also narrowed down the agenda to only nuclear issues. The move comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East as the US builds up its military presence in the region.
The talks, scheduled for Friday in Istanbul, were initially supposed to cover a broader range of topics including ballistic missiles and Iran's activities with proxies in the region. However, Tehran is now demanding that these other issues be dropped from the agenda.
Iranian officials have stated that they only want to discuss nuclear issues with the Americans, while the US wants to include other topics such as ballistic missiles and the activities of Iranian proxies in the region.
The US has been increasing its military presence in the Middle East following violent crackdowns on anti-government protests in Iran last month. The Trump administration has warned that "bad things" will happen if a deal cannot be reached with Iran, but it is unclear what specific actions this refers to.
In other developments, the US shot down an Iranian drone earlier this week after it approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in international waters. The incident has raised tensions further between the two countries.
Gulf Arab states are also worried that Iran will carry out its threat to target US bases on their territory should Trump attack the Islamic Republic again. They have called for negotiations and said that another conflict cannot be allowed.
Iran's leadership is increasingly concerned that a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, according to six current and former Iranian officials.
The talks, scheduled for Friday in Istanbul, were initially supposed to cover a broader range of topics including ballistic missiles and Iran's activities with proxies in the region. However, Tehran is now demanding that these other issues be dropped from the agenda.
Iranian officials have stated that they only want to discuss nuclear issues with the Americans, while the US wants to include other topics such as ballistic missiles and the activities of Iranian proxies in the region.
The US has been increasing its military presence in the Middle East following violent crackdowns on anti-government protests in Iran last month. The Trump administration has warned that "bad things" will happen if a deal cannot be reached with Iran, but it is unclear what specific actions this refers to.
In other developments, the US shot down an Iranian drone earlier this week after it approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in international waters. The incident has raised tensions further between the two countries.
Gulf Arab states are also worried that Iran will carry out its threat to target US bases on their territory should Trump attack the Islamic Republic again. They have called for negotiations and said that another conflict cannot be allowed.
Iran's leadership is increasingly concerned that a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, according to six current and former Iranian officials.
. I've got some connections in the region and they're telling me that Iran's just trying to shift the focus away from all the other issues they've been hiding. Ballistic missiles and proxy activities? Yeah, those are some juicy topics 
. They want to keep 'em under wraps while talking nukes with the US. The Americans, on the other hand, think they need to bring it all up to keep Iran in check 
.
. Trump's threats are just adding fuel to the fire, and now we've got another incident with that Iranian drone 
. If the US starts talking about taking out their bases in the Gulf, Iran'll go nuclear 
. I'm not saying it won't happen, but these talks could be exactly what they need – a way to stall for time 
. Either way, we're all just sitting on pins and needles waiting for someone to make the next move 
think iran's being super cautious with these talks, might not wanna get into a full-blown mess 
especially with trump's history of making threats, it's all about saving face right now 
guess the agenda's gotta be kept simple for both sides, no room for miscommunication 
. what's up with the us shooting down that iranian drone tho? 
️ felt like a big move to stir things up 
i feel like both sides are being super stubborn about it - usa wants to talk about more than just nukes but iran is like "no way" 
and then you got the arab gulf states trying to stay out of the mess 
meanwhile, trump's all like "something bad will happen if we don't get a deal done" 
would definitely help reduce tensions between Iran and the US. It's crazy how quickly things escalated - just last month, there were violent protests in Iran and now we're on the brink of war 
. I wish they could just calm down and have a productive conversation about these important nuclear issues 
. This whole situation feels so precarious 
. What if there were some common ground they could find to work towards? Maybe that would be the best way to defuse all this tension 
.
It's like, we're getting closer to resolving our differences and finding common ground. And can you believe they've narrowed down the agenda just to nuclear issues? That's like, progress, you know? 
!