Photo- Envoys from Iran and the United States are expected to in Muscat, capital of Oman, home to the spectacular Mutrah Corniche. © Haitham Al-Shukairi, AFP
Uranium enrichment might be the main dispute at the US-Iran talks set for Friday in Oman – but the key sticking point is Iran’s ballistic missiles program , which the US wants to add to the table at the talks. Here are some of major issues at stake when negotiators meet again in Muscat.
Muscat- Iran and the United States are holding talks on Friday in Oman, with Tehran pushing to focus squarely on its nuclear program , while Washington’s demands go beyond that.
The two foes had held several rounds of Oman-mediated nuclear talks in 2025, but the Iran-Israel war, which saw the United States conduct strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, derailed diplomacy days before a meeting was due.
US President Donald Trump has threatened renewed military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on mass anti-government protests, but has also said he thinks Tehran is open to a deal.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday reiterated Trump’s threats amid a US military buildup in the region.
“While these negotiations are taking place, I would remind the Iranian regime that the president has many options at his disposal, aside from diplomacy, as the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the history of the world,” she said.
The US has said talks must cover Tehran’s missile program and its support for proxy groups in the region.
Here are some of the thorny issues on the table:
Nuclear program
The main dispute between Iran and the US concerns uranium enrichment and stockpiles of enriched uranium .
Western countries and Israel, thought to be the Middle East‘s only country with nuclear weapons, say Iran is seeking to acquire a bomb, which the Islamic republic denies despite their enrichment program.
During the Iran-Israel war last June, the United States bombed three nuclear sites in Iran (Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan), with Trump later claiming the strikes “obliterated” the nuclear program , although the extent of the damage remains unknown.
Experts say uranium enriched above 20 percent can have potential military applications but that enrichment must reach 90 percent to make a bomb.
Before the war, Iran was enriching uranium to 60 percent, according to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, far exceeding a 3.67 percent cap allowed under a now-defunct nuclear agreement that Iran reached with world powers in 2015.
The United States withdrew from that deal in 2018 and Iran subsequently abandoned its commitments under the agreement in retaliation.
Trump has repeatedly called for a complete end to enrichment, a condition much stricter than the 2015 deal.
Iran, which says it has a right to civilian nuclear power, deems this demand a “red line” and contrary to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which it and 190 other nations are signatories.
Uranium and Missiles stockpiles
The location of Iran’s reserves of more than 400 kilogram of highly enriched uranium is unclear after the US bombings last year. The stocks were last seen by IAEA inspectors on June 10.
“The materials are under the rubble (of bombed nuclear sites) and we have made no attempt to extract them… because it is dangerous,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told Lebanese media this week.
“We are discussing this issue with the IAEA in order to find a solution while ensuring safety,” he added.
Iran suspended all cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog at the end of September, justifying its decision as retaliation after UN sanctions were reinstated over its nuclear programme.
Several countries, including Russia, have offered to house Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium as a safeguard, but Iran has refused.
“There is no reason to move the materials abroad when we can eliminate the sources of concern” about their end use, Shamkhani insisted.
“We have no plan to militarise our nuclear program ” and “we can therefore dilute the material from 60 to, say, 20 percent”, he added.
“But in exchange, something must be paid,” Shamkhani said, alluding to Iran’s demand that sanctions be lifted.
Regional influence
Iran long projected influence around the region by supporting armed proxy groups including Hamas in Gaza Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran backed militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen .
Known collectively as the “Axis of Resistance”, these groups had grown into a potent challenge to Lebanon , Iraq, Yemen , the Palestinian Territories and Israel
Israel dealt major blows to Hezbollah and Hamas in conflicts that followed. Tehran’s regional sway was further weakened by the ouster of its Syrian ally, Bashar al-Assad.
Despite their weakened positions, neither Hamas nor Hezbollah have yielded to demands for their disarmament.
Washington is also seeking to counter the role of Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Reuters reported that Washington has threatened senior Iraqi politicians with sanctions targeting the Iraqi state – including potentially its critical oil revenues – should Iran-backed groups be included in its next government.
The Iran-aligned Houthis of Yemen, who fired missiles at Red Sea shipping and Israel during the Gaza war, remain firmly in control of Yemen’s most populous areas.
Protest crackdown
Trump stepped up his threats of military action against Iran during a wave of protests that erupted in December over economic hardship before swelling into widespread demonstrations demanding an end to clerical rule. It was Iran’s deadliest unrest since the 1979 revolution, with thousands killed.
As Iran cracked down, accusing foreign enemies of fomenting the unrest, Trump warned Tehran against shooting protesters and vowed to “take very strong action” if Iran executed protesters.
He later said Tehran had called off mass hangings.
Nuclear and nothing else
Tehran is adamant that the talks be strictly limited to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions, and considers this demand non-negotiable.
But Washington and its ally Israel are pushing for other grievances against the Islamic republic to be included.
In 2018, the United States’ withdrawal from the previous nuclear deal was partly motivated by the absence of curbs in the agreement on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, perceived as a threat to Israel.
According to media reports, Israel is now pushing to put this issue on the negotiating table, along with Iran’s policy of financing militant groups across the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
