Image from Muscat meeting prompts speculation about written message

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq met Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in Muscat on Tuesday and discussed the latest developments in Iran-US negotiations and ways to reach a “balanced and fair” agreement, Oman News Agency reported.

The meeting also stressed the importance of returning to dialogue and negotiations, bringing views closer, and resolving differences through peaceful means, with the stated aim of establishing peace and security in the region and the world, ONA said.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported the meeting lasted nearly three hours.

Earlier, the Associated Press reported Larijani’s Tuesday trip to Muscat was likely to convey Iran’s response to the latest round of talks with the United States, which was held in Muscat.

Iran’s opponents spread false casualty figures and exaggerate events linked to the protests, said deputy for communications and information at the Iranian president’s office on Tuesday.

“Manufacturing deaths, exaggerating events, and presenting false statistics about those killed and injured in the January incidents are inherent to the information tactics of Iran’s enemies and ill-wishers,” Mehdi Tabatabaei wrote on X.

He added that the government, by contrast, was obliged to provide accurate information and clarify all aspects of what happened.

“The death of even a single Iranian citizen is bitter, unacceptable, and abnormal,” he said.

A senior official in the political arm of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office said on Tuesday that a US strike on Iran could spiral into a broader regional conflict.

“Perhaps the enemy thinks it can launch a limited and controlled war, but this war could turn into an unlimited, destructive and regional war,” said Rasul Sanaeirad, the deputy for political affairs in Khamenei’s ideological-political office.

Citing what he called “the enemy’s record of bad faith and deception,” he said Iran was conducting negotiations with Washington while maintaining full preparedness for war.

Iran is prepared for a possible attack and has no trust in the United States or in negotiations with it, an Iranian lawmaker said on Tuesday.

“We are fully ready for a possible attack, because we have no trust at all in the United States and negotiations with them,” Mohammadreza Mohseni Sani, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee said.

He added that the agenda of the negotiations with the US had been limited to the nuclear issue and no other topics had been discussed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that negotiations between Iran and the United States would be the top priority during his visit to Washington.

Speaking before his departure, Netanyahu said he planned to present President Donald Trump with essential principles for negotiations with Iran.

“On this trip, we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course, first and foremost, negotiations with Iran,” Netanyahu said.