Two U.S. officials told Axios that the United States informed Iran on Wednesday it would not accept Tehran’s demands to change the venue and format of the talks scheduled for Friday.
According to Axios, the deadlock could derail the diplomatic track and persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to opt for military action. The United States and Iran had nevertheless agreed to meet on Friday in Istanbul, with other Middle Eastern countries taking part as observers.
But Iranian officials said on Tuesday they wanted to move the talks to the Sultanate of Oman and hold them in a bilateral format, to ensure the discussions focus solely on the nuclear issue and not on other matters such as missiles—seen as priorities for the United States and countries in the region.
U.S. officials reviewed the request to change the venue, but decided on Wednesday to reject it.
A senior U.S. official told Axios: “We told them it was take it or leave it. They said, OK, then it’s nothing.”
The official added that if Iran is ready to return to the original format, Washington is prepared to meet this week or next week.
“We want to reach a real deal quickly, otherwise people will look at other options,” the senior official said, referring to Trump’s repeated threats to take military action.
Axios also reported, citing U.S. officials, that White House envoy Steve Witkoff—along with Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner—are expected to travel to Qatar on Thursday for talks on Iran with the prime minister.
From there, they currently plan to return to Miami rather than travel to meet the Iranians.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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