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Oman’s foreign minister met Thursday in Geneva with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as efforts intensify to reach a new agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.
The minister, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, said the talks focused on Tehran’s proposals and perspectives, as well as questions and responses from the U.S. negotiating team regarding key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program and the guarantees required for a potential agreement.
“His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs clarified that the efforts are continuing intensively and in a constructive spirit, under the negotiators’ unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas and solutions, while preparing the supportive conditions for progress and reaching a fair agreement with sustainable guarantees,” the ministry said in a post on X.
The closely watched meeting comes amid heightened regional tensions and a visible U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, including the repositioning of naval assets and additional air defense capabilities.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff (C) and Jared Kushner (L) meet with Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi (R) in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss ongoing diplomatic negotiations on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs/X)
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and multiple guided-missile destroyers are operating in the Arabian Sea, as well as additional destroyers stationed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
Several combat ships are also positioned in the Persian Gulf near Iran’s southern coastline.
IRAN ANNOUNCES TEST OF NEW NAVAL AIR DEFENSE MISSILE IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS US MILITARY BUILDUP CONTINUES
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete, Greece, on Feb. 26, 2026. (Costas Metaxakis/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that while Trump prefers a diplomatic solution, Washington views Iran as a “grave threat” and remains deeply concerned about both its nuclear ambitions and expanding missile arsenal.
He said the talks in Geneva would be “largely focused on the nuclear program” but warned that Tehran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missiles poses a major obstacle.
POTENTIAL US MILITARY STRIKES ON IRAN COULD TARGET SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS, PURSUE REGIME CHANGE: REPORT
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, on Feb. 25, 2026. (Jonathan Ernst/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of our bases in the UAE, in Qatar, in Bahrain,” he explained. “I want everybody to understand that, and beyond just the nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans, if they so choose to do so. These things have to be addressed.”
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