Negotiations between Iran and the United States resumed on February 6 in Muscat, Oman, in a terse, tightly scheduled meeting that yielded cautious optimism from Tehran and a tranche of fresh punitive measures from Washington. Iran’s foreign minister, Araghchi, described the opening session as constructive and said both sides agreed to continue talks, while U.S. officials on the same day announced sanctions on entities, individuals and tankers tied to Iran’s oil trade.
The talks were compact and politically charged. The Iranian delegation was led by Araghchi; Chinese state media identified the U.S. delegation as led by the president’s special envoy “Witkof” alongside Jared Kushner, and said U.S. Central Command’s regional chief, Cooper, was present. Tehran made clear it would not accept a precondition barring all uranium enrichment, while the White House reiterated a maximalist demand—President Trump’s insistence on curbing Iran’s nuclear capabilities to the greatest extent possible.
Diplomatic choreography accompanied military signaling. Iran paraded a new Khorramshahr-4 ballistic missile in the days before the talks and, from the evening of February 6, placed its armed forces at the highest state of readiness. Israel’s leadership publicly declared preparations for a far harder strike than last year’s operations, and the U.S. maintained that diplomacy remained the first option even as it warned of other tools on the table.
Regional capitals and the United Nations reacted with guarded encouragement. Oman, which hosted the talks, and Qatar and Jordan welcomed the process and urged a comprehensive outcome that could bolster regional stability. The U.N. secretary-general also welcomed the resumption of talks in the hope they would reduce tensions and avert a wider crisis.
The parallel tracks of engagement and coercion were stark. Washington’s sanctions targeted the so‑called shadow fleet of tankers that have allowed Tehran to keep oil exports flowing despite earlier restrictions; the move is designed to squeeze Iran’s revenues even as diplomats sit down. Tehran’s refusal to accept an outright ban on enrichment, and its display of military readiness, signals how little space there currently is for compromise on core issues.
Analysts caution that this round of diplomacy is both high-stakes and time‑compressed. Chinese commentary quoted by state media highlighted three constraints: deep, long-standing hostility between Washington and Tehran; a narrow political window for negotiations driven by recent escalations; and the binary outcome potential—either movement toward a framework both sides can live with, or a renewed slide toward coercive measures, including military action. The combination of sanctions, battlefield rhetoric and rapid military posture raises the prospect that talks could collapse back into confrontation before any durable agreement is reached.