By Guy Birchall

Iran and the United States began mediated negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program in Oman on Feb. 6.

The Omani Foreign Ministry confirmed in a public statement on its website that negotiations had begun.

“As part of the Sultanate of Oman’s hosting of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue, Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi held separate consultations with the Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Dr. Abbas Araghchi, and the US delegation, led by the U.S. President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and (U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law) Jared Kushner,” the ministry said.

“The discussions focused on creating suitable conditions to resume diplomatic and technical negotiations. The talks highlighted their importance in light of the parties’ commitment to ensuring their success and sustaining security and stability.”

Images accompanying the statement showed Badr Albusaidi meeting separately with Witkoff, Kushner, and Araghchi.

According to previous statements from Iran, the talks likely largely pertained to the nation’s nuclear program.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Lebanese outlet Al Mayadeen on Feb. 3 that Tehran was open to negotiations on its nuclear program, but only with Washington.

He stated that Iran “has repeatedly confirmed and demonstrated its readiness for practical negotiations with the United States solely, and not with anyone else,” and criticized the notion of including Europe as it had “practically proven that it cannot do anything, after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, and also during negotiations before last June’s war.”

“Even Trump did not allow them to intervene in these matters,” Shamkhani said, adding that the “negotiations are limited to the United States and to the nuclear file, over which an agreement can be reached.”

He also stated Iran had “no reason” to move its stores of enriched uranium out of the country.

A White House official confirmed to The Epoch Times that the talks would proceed in the Arab nation on Feb. 4.

The decision came after a breakdown in planning discussions on Wednesday due to rising tensions regarding the agenda.

The White House official said the meeting was rescheduled after several Arab and Muslim leaders urged the Trump administration on Wednesday afternoon not to withdraw from the talks. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul.

The official added that the United States agreed to the meeting out of respect for its Arab allies but remains skeptical about its prospects for success.

In an interview with NBC News on Feb. 4, Trump said Khamenei “should be very worried.”

“We want peace in the Middle East,” Trump said, adding that if the United States hadn’t taken out nuclear facilities in Iran last year, there would be no peace in the region.

“The Arab countries could’ve never done that. They were very, very afraid of Iran,” the president said.

In June, the U.S. military and Israel launched air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during a 12-day aerial war. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israeli and U.S. assets in the region.

“Those beautiful B-2 bombers went in, and they hit their target … and obliterated it,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s nuclear program.

The president went on to say that Iran at the time of the strikes would have produced a nuclear weapon within one month if the United States hadn’t intervened. The regime in Iran was considering launching a new facility in another part of the country, Trump said, but the United States had found out about its plans.

He then warned Iran that if the regime attempted to restart its nuclear program, he would send bombers “right back.”

In recent days, Trump ordered a military buildup in the Middle East following protests in Iran that escalated into violent clashes with Iranian security forces. Thousands of protesters are reported dead or missing as a result of the ongoing clampdown.

Khamenei earlier stated that Iran “will strike a strong blow against anyone who attacks and harasses” its territory, according to multiple state media outlets, after Trump posted on Truth Social that “a massive armada” was being deployed to the region.

The president in recent weeks has repeatedly urged Iran’s Islamist regime to make a deal to constrain its nuclear program.

“As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL!” Trump wrote in a Jan. 28 post on Truth Social. “They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again.”

Emel Akan and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.