- Iranian and United States delegations are set to hold talks in Oman’s capital, Muscat, to discuss the Iranian nuclear programme.
- US President Donald Trump has threatened military action if a deal isn’t reached. Iran says it’s not seeking nuclear weapons and wants sanctions lifted.
- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leads the Iranian delegation while Special Envoy Steve Witkoff heads the US team.
- Trump says the talks will be direct but Iran says it will communicate indirectly through Omani mediators.
The Morag Corridor is complete – but what other corridors has the Israeli military constructed?
The Israeli military says that it has now completed the construction of the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza.
However, it is not the only so-called ‘corridor’ that has been constructed by the Israeli military during its war on Gaza.
The Netzarim Corridor is a 6.5km (4-mile) road located south of Gaza City that in effect, cuts the Gaza Strip in two.
The corridor was named after Netzarim, the last Israeli settlement to be closed in Gaza in 2005, under the then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The Philadelphi Corridor is a 14km (8.7-mile) long strip of land representing the entire border area between Gaza and Egypt.
It was initially established as a buffer zone controlled and patrolled by Israeli armed forces as part of the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.
An agreement after the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005 allowed Egypt to safeguard the Egyptian side of the corridor with the Palestinian Authority and, subsequently, Hamas in control of the Palestinian side.
Israel seized it in May 2024 as part of its ground offensive into Rafah.
Israeli reservist seriously wounded by Israeli landmine near border with Lebanon
The Israeli military says an Israeli reservist was seriously wounded this morning during operations on the Lebanon border.
According to Israeli Army Radio, the soldier stepped on a landmine after troops mistakenly entered an Israeli minefield.
Hamas claims rocket attack on Israel
Earlier, we reported that the Israeli army said it intercepted three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, which caused no casualties.
On Telegram, the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.
It said it targeted the “Nir Yitzhak” settlement with the “Rajum” short-range 114mm rocket system.
What is the risk of a ‘snapback’ of UN sanctions on Iran?
Under the 2015 deal, a process known as a “snapback” could reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, if triggered at the UN Security Council, by October 18.
Once initiated, the 15-member body must vote on a resolution to continue Iran’s sanctions relief, requiring nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the permanent states – the UK, China, France, Russia and the United States – to pass.
If the resolution is not adopted, all UN sanctions on Iran would be reimposed unless the UNSC takes other action.
Since the US pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018, only the remaining signatories have the power to trigger the snapback process. Still, Trump has directed his UN ambassador to work with allies to reintroduce sanctions on Iran.
The UK, France and Germany have told the council they are ready to pursue a snapback and have pushed for a “comprehensive” report from the UN nuclear agency on Iran’s nuclear activities.
What is the nuclear deal and what are the issues yet to be resolved?
Iran’s uranium enrichment programme has long prompted fears that it could produce a nuclear weapon. Tehran says its programme is peaceful and maintains its right to produce nuclear energy for civilian use. It’s been enriching uranium for decades.
That’s why July 2015 was considered a historic moment. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany and the EU, signed a deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
In return for sanctions relief from the EU, UN and US, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment to just more than three and a half percent purity. A nuclear weapon requires uranium enriched to 90 percent purity. Iran also agreed to give up 97 percent of its stockpile of the metal – reducing it from 10,000kg to just 300.
The latest report by the UN nuclear watchdog says Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent purity and its uranium stockpile has grown to just more than 8,000kg.
So what happened?
During his first term, Trump withdrew the US from what he called a “horrible one-sided deal”. In response, Iran abandoned the limits on its uranium enrichment.
Since returning to the White House this year, Trump has doubled down, increasing sanctions on Iran, including on firms trading crude oil.
The local currency is at a record low to the US dollar, raising inflation and unemployment.
And there have been geopolitical setbacks. Recent conflicts have weakened regional forces allied with Iran – Israel has attacked Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The US has been targeting the Houthis in Yemen, and Bashar al-Assad’s government fell in Syria.
Now the US and Iran are coming back to the table – and there is pressure.
The UN Security Council can impose what’s called a “snapback”, meaning it could reimpose sanctions before the 2015 nuclear deal expires in October. Among other measures, this includes an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and a global freeze on individuals’ assets.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope the talks in Oman would lead to peace, adding, “We’ve been very clear what Iran is never going to have a nuclear weapon, and I think that’s what led to this meeting.”
For its part, Iran said it was giving the US a “genuine chance” despite what it called as the other side’s “prevailing confrontational hoopla”.
Tehran residents react with hope, caution to Oman nuclear talks
The news of the negotiations has been welcomed with a mix of hope and caution by people in the Iranian capital whose lives have been greatly affected by US-imposed sanctions that have contributed to soaring prices and a devaluation of the local currency.
“We must convince global players that Iran is not seeking war. We know that sanctions have been affecting people’s lives and the country’s officials must work to resolve this,” a man in Tehran told Al Jazeera.
But some remained sceptical that talks will make any difference.
“Negotiations are neither important nor useful because at the end of the day, we live in Iran and the economic situation remains poor. The main issue is domestic mismanagement,” a woman in Tehran said.
Others warned against Iran giving in too much to the other side.
“If we can talk why should we resort to war? However, we should not be blackmailed by the other side – if we compromise and make concessions, it will only increase the pressure on us,” said another Tehran resident.
‘Complicated road ahead amid diverging demands’
Abas Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, says today’s talks are more about “setting the stage” rather than “the endgame”.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tehran, Aslani noted that there is still “deep distrust” and “diverging demands” from both sides.
“I think today is the battle of [the] frameworks,” he said,
“Because the demands coming from the US, President Trump and others, have been maximalist – sometimes it’s a nonstarter for Iran which could create tensions in the region for them,” Aslani added.
“But for Iran, the framework and the outline includes several parameters,” he said, citing the rejection of military threats as well as limiting the scope of the negotiations to the nuclear matter and reserving the right to uranium enrichment and reaching a verifiable pathway in order to lift the sanctions.
“But what we have been hearing from the American side contrasts this, and the different and contrasting positions from Iran and the United States somehow creates a complicated and rocky road ahead,” he said, describing the talks in Muscat as just “the beginning”.
“We should not gauge the result of the talks at the end of the day,” Aslani said, predicting that this will be long process.
Both sides eager to avoid escalation amid high stakes
President Trump has made it clear he wants a deal very quickly.
But this is a very complex subject for the US side; it is very concerned about the current state of Iran’s nuclear programme because it is so much more sophisticated than it was when that deal was signed with international powers in 2015.
Iran is now enriching uranium to 60 percent, weapons-grade is 90 percent – and it takes a very small technical step to get from 60 to 90 percent. The US believes it will take just more than a week for them to be able to get a nuclear weapon.
There is then the problem of working out how you get a nuclear weapon on a missile and weaponise it, which could take some time, but clearly Iran is much more sophisticated here.
On the Iranian side, their big fear is war.
That’s been the fear all along, that they might be attacked. And of course, those fears are heightened after what they’ve seen Israel do with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Trump says Iran ‘can’t have a nuclear weapon’
Hours before the talks were due to begin, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that he wants Iran “to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
He described today’s meeting in Oman as “big”.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is only for civilian purposes.
Trump’s comments came days after he issued a new military threat against Iran.
“If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Trump said on Wednesday when asked what would happen if the talks fail to produce a deal.
How did we get here?
The world’s media crowded outside a luxury hotel in the Austrian capital, Vienna, in July 2015 to catch a glimpse of diplomats negotiating the final and most difficult stages of a complex nuclear agreement.
The agreement – the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – saw Iran agreeing to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
But the deal that was signed by Iran and six international powers – the US, China, Russia, UK, France and Germany, together with the EU – actually had its origins in secret talks more than two years earlier in the Gulf state of Oman.
And it is to this tiny Gulf nation that US and Iranian negotiators are returning today to try to remake a deal after that first one was torn up by Trump in 2018, who reinstated harsh sanctions on Iran.
Earlier this week, during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump revealed that there would be new talks.
The US president described the discussions as “direct”, a claim dismissed by Iran which says the talks will take place through Omani mediation.
Iran seeking ‘fair and dignified agreement’
We have some comments from Araghchi following his meeting with the Omani foreign minister in Muscat.
The Iranian foreign minister said his country is looking to reach a “fair and dignified agreement” with the US.
“If there is enough will, we will make a decision about the timetable of the negotiations,” he said.
Araghchi added that if the US adopts the same approach, then there is a chance to reach an “initial understanding” that could lead to a path for negotiations.
“In this initial meeting many issues will be clarified including whether there’s sufficient will from both sides – if so, we may then decide on a timeline,” he said, noting that it is still “too early” to speak about specifics.
“The talks are indirect in nature and from our perspective, are limited solely to the nuclear issue.”
Iranian delegation in Oman
Iran’s negotiating team left Tehran earlier today for Oman, according to state media.
“The Iranian delegation, headed by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi left for Muscat, the venue for Iran-US talks,” the official IRNA news agency said.
Later, Iranian state TV said Araghchi met Omani officials following his arrival in the capital.
According to Iranian news agency Tasnim, the delegations will start indirect negotiations after a meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi.
The talks are expected to begin in the afternoon with al-Busaidi as intermediary, Tasnim added.
Who is attending the talks?
Iran:
- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the Iranian delegation.
- A vastly experienced diplomat, Araghchi was previously a leading Iranian nuclear negotiator.
- He had attended some of early secret talks in Muscat 12 years ago that led to the 2015 signing of a historic multilateral accord in Vienna, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which the US unilaterally withdrew from in 2018 under Trump.
US:
- On the US side, talks will be handled by Steve Witkoff.
- Witkoff is a New York property developer and a friend of Trump.
- He was previously put in charge of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations and was also asked to deal with the Russia-Ukraine war.
What is happening today?
The stage is set for critical discussions between Iranian and US officials on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The talks in Muscat, the capital of Oman, are the first negotiations under the current Trump administration, which wants to halt Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme and has threatened military action if there is no deal.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country is not seeking war, nor a nuclear bomb.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello and thank you for joining our live coverage of the Iran-US talks in Oman.
Iranian and US officials are set to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme in what could be a first diplomatic step in resolving longstanding issues between the two countries.
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