Following tit-for-tat exchanges this past week, it was reported that both Iranian delegates would be in Oman for talks over the future of the Iran War, which on Saturday entered its 134th day.
It was at first unclear whether the negotiations would be direct, indirect, or between the U.S. and Iran at all. U.S. and Iranian negotiators were originally reported to be in Oman Saturday, with CBS News claiming that Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would attend. But Qatari mediators later told CBS News that no Americans will attend the Omani talks.
The Iranian news agency Fars, citing unnamed sources, reported that Iran has ruled out negotiations with the U.S. until its conditions are met, which reportedly include forming a Lebanon working group, resolving management of the Strait of Hormuz, and allowing Iranian oil exports. Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would be in Muscat for talks regarding management of the Strait of Hormuz, and AP noted that Araghchi would meet with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
In a Truth Social post Friday evening, Trump said that “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!”
Trump’s threat follows Israeli intelligence reports alleging that Iran has made attempts against his life. Trump has invoked his belief that Iran tried to assassinate him when articulating hawkish policies toward Iran; in March, Trump told ABC News in March that he ordered the provocative assassination of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to make sure that “I got him before he got me…. They tried twice. Well, I got him first.”
Axios, citing anonymous U.S. officials, reported that the White House has given Iran a Saturday deadline to publicly declare the Strait of Hormuz open and stop firing on commercial ships or to face “consequences.” The reported threat comes amid an ongoing dispute over which corridor ships use to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran demands that all ships coordinate with it to travel through its 12-mile side of the waterway, paying tolls, while the UK Maritime Organization and other Western shipping organizations have instructed tankers to transit through Oman’s corridor, where some ships have avoided coordination with Iran.
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This past week’s bombing exchange between the U.S. and Iran occurred after Iran was reported to have attacked ships hugging the Omani coast and passing through the strait without coordinating with Iran. Iran argued that those transits violate the terms of the MoU signed on June 17. CBS News, citing anonymous officials, claimed that some Iranian officials told Trump that recent Iranian attacks in the Strait were a “mistake.”
Araghchi posted to X on Friday that “Iran has so far kept its word, unlike the so-called U.S. Treasury Secretary who is violating [paragraph] 9 of the MoU,” adding that “there can only be mutual compliance.” His comments follow the U.S. Treasury Department rescinding waivers allowing the sale of Iranian oil on the global market and the imposition of new OFAC sanctions.
The price of Brent Crude oil closed Friday at $76.01 per barrel.
