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Iran’s ultra-hardline Kayhan newspaper said on Friday that indirect negotiations with the United States on Saturday represent a deliberate snub to US President Donald Trump, whom it called unworthy of direct talks.
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of Kayhan and a representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader, wrote that the decision to engage in indirect rather than direct dialogue was intended to signal Tehran’s disdain for Trump's past and present policies. “This is a humiliation for Trump — we did not consider him deserving of direct negotiations,” he wrote.
Shariatmadari also emphasized that such talks do not proceed without the knowledge and implicit approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “If the Leader opposed the talks, they would not take place,” he added.
While Iranian officials maintain that the meeting in Oman will be conducted indirectly, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday reiterated Washington’s position that the talks will be direct.
US President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Russia and is expected to meet President Putin on Friday — their third meeting amid Trump’s push for a Ukraine ceasefire, Axios reported.
Iran says it is giving diplomacy a genuine chance in talks with the US, despite accusing Washington of engaging in “confrontational theatrics.”
“In earnest and with candid vigilance, we are giving diplomacy a genuine chance,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
“We do not prejudge… We do not predict.”
The spokesman added, "We intend to assess the other side’s intentions and seriousness on Saturday and adjust our next steps accordingly."
Iran is considering proposing during talks with the US that the two countries work on an interim nuclear agreement before pursuing negotiations over a comprehensive deal, Axios reported Thursday citing a European diplomat and a source familiar with the issue thinking.
Iran is looking for the interim deal as it believes achieving a deal before the two-month deadline set by Trump is not realistic, according to the report.
“The Iranians seem to believe that a sustainable deal is unlikely to be achieved in the timeframe that President Trump has in mind. It might therefore be necessary to consider an interim agreement as a way station toward a final deal," the report said citing Ali Vaez, director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group.
Iranian and American delegations are scheduled to arrive in Muscat on Saturday morning and the negotiations are set to begin in the afternoon, the Revolutionary Guard-affiliated Tasnim News reported.
The talks will begin after separate meetings with Oman's Foreign Minister, who will act as the mediator between the two sides, it added.
The report cited sources familiar with the matter saying Iran has clearly outlined its red lines ahead of the talks. "These include a strict rejection of any threatening rhetoric from the American delegation, a firm refusal to entertain excessive demands or frameworks regarding its nuclear program, and an insistence that no discussions related to Iran’s defense industry be raised."
"Iran will not tolerate any form of threat or attempts to cross these red lines during the negotiations," the report said citing the sources.
"However, they added that Iran remains open to building confidence around the peaceful nature of its nuclear program—provided that sanctions are lifted in return."
"If the US is genuinely concerned only about the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb, the path to agreement should not be difficult," Tasnim cited the sources as saying.
"But if the Americans enter the talks with duplicity and excessive demands, they must be prepared to shoulder the international blame for any obstruction of the negotiation process."
