# maritime incidents

Fragile Diplomacy: U.S. and Iran Agree to Oman Talks as Naval Confrontations Raise Stakes

The United States and Iran agreed to hold direct talks in Oman after Tehran demanded bilateral, nuclear-focused negotiations and shifted the venue from Turkey. Hours before the talks, a U.S. warplane shot down an Iranian drone near the USS Abraham Lincoln and U.S. forces escorted a tanker away from Iranian vessels, underscoring how fragile the diplomatic opening is and how quickly it could be ruptured by maritime incidents.