The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks will be held on Sunday in Muscat, the Omani foreign minister said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump reiterated that Tehran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
"I am pleased to confirm the 6th round of Iran-US talks will be held in Muscat this Sunday," Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X.
Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The announcement by Oman came just hours after President Donald Trump said US personnel were being moved from the potentially "dangerous" Middle East. It was eported earlier that the US was preparing a “partial” evacuation of its embassies in Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Nuclear diplomacy
Reports of the potential evacuation pushed up oil prices by more than 4 percent before prices eased on Thursday.
Foreign energy companies were continuing their operations as usual, a senior Iraqi official overseeing operations in southern oilfields told Reuters on Thursday.
A US official said the State Department had authorised voluntary departures from Bahrain and Kuwait.
Trump also reiterated that he would not allow Iran to have an atomic bomb amid mounting speculation that Israel could strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.
Trump had until recently expressed optimism about the talks, but said in an interview published Wednesday that he was "less confident" about reaching a deal.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails.
The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signalled that he is losing patience.
Notice to move out
The State Department updated its worldwide travel advisory on Wednesday evening to reflect the latest US posture. "On June 11, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel due to heightened regional tensions," the advisory said.
The decision by the US to evacuate some personnel comes at a volatile moment in the region. Trump's efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked and US intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
"They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters.
"We've given notice to move out." Asked whether anything could be done to lower the temperature in the region, Trump said: "They can't have a nuclear weapon.
Very simple, they can't have a nuclear weapon." Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if stuttering talks over its nuclear programme fail and in an interview released earlier on Wednesday said he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, a key American demand.
While the evacuation of non-essential personnel raised concerns about a possible regional escalation, a senior Iranian security official told Iran's Press TV on Thursday that US military dependents leaving did not constitute a threat.
Shipping in critical waterways
On Wednesday, Iran's defence minister warned Washington that Tehran would hit US regional bases if drawn into a war in the case of nuclear talks failing. The United States has a military presence across the major oil-producing region, with bases in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East, a US official said. Another US official said that was mostly relevant to family members located in Bahrain - where the bulk of them are based.
On Wednesday Britain's maritime agency warned that increased tensions in the Middle East might lead to an escalation in military activity that could impact shipping in critical waterways.
It advised vessels to use caution while travelling through the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Straits of Hormuz, which all border Iran.
Tensions inside Iraq have heightened since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with Iran-aligned armed groups in the country repeatedly attacking US troops, though attacks have subsided since last year.
Potential military strike by Israel
Iran will not abandon its right to uranium enrichment because of mounting frictions in the region, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday, adding that a "friendly" regional country had alerted Tehran over a potential military strike by Israel.
The official said the tensions were intended to "influence Tehran to change its position about its nuclear rights" during talks with the United States on Sunday in Oman.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because it could be a "dangerous place", adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
Tehran and Washington will hold a new round of talks in Oman's capital, Muscat, to resolve a decades-long standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
After five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, several obstacles remain. Among them are Iran's rejection of a US demand that it commit to scrapping uranium enrichment.
