WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/JERUSALEM/MUSCAT – US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to prepare for possible military action against Iran if negotiations fail.
“We have an armada that is heading there, and another one might be going,” Trump said in an interview with US news outlet Axios, noting that Washington is weighing additional military deployments while pursuing diplomatic talks with Tehran.
Iran says talks with US will stay in Oman
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday rejected reports that indirect talks between Tehran and Washington would be held outside Oman, saying Muscat was always the agreed venue, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told a news briefing that Iran welcomed diplomatic efforts by regional and neighboring countries that had offered to help ease tensions and support dialogue.
He said Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had been in contact with counterparts in regional countries as well as others concerned about regional peace and security. Those contacts, Baqaei said, took place “at the highest levels,” including with Iran’s president and foreign minister, and were aimed at reducing tensions and facilitating a diplomatic process.
Iran warns Netanyahu’s US visit
Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s departure for Washington on the same day, Iran has warned that Netanyahu’s visit to the United States is an attempt to undermine the newly-started nuclear talks between Iran and the US.
Netanyahu departed for Washington on Tuesday to meet US President Donald Trump, in a bid to press him to take a harder line on Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities in upcoming negotiations.
This is the Israeli prime minister’s seventh meeting with Trump since his return to office, including one in Jerusalem in October 2025, after Trump announced a ceasefire in Gaza.
“On this trip, we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course first and foremost the negotiations with Iran,” Netanyahu told journalists at the airport.
He said he will present to Trump Israel’s views regarding “the principles of the negotiations, the important principles,” which are “important not only for Israel, but for anyone in the world who wants peace and security in the Middle East.”
Netanyahu’s office recently said the prime minister will press the view that any negotiations with Iran must address its ballistic missile program and regional activities, not only its nuclear-related issues.
In response to Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday that Israel has been the main cause of insecurity and security problems in the region.
Israel has been the root cause of Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear program turning into a “fabricated crisis,” Baghaei said, adding that Israel is opposed to any diplomatic process that would restore peace and calm in the region.
The US officials should not let others decide for their country’s foreign policy, Baghaei said. It is up to the United States whether to act independently of the “destructive” pressures, lobbies and attempts aimed at exerting influence, he said.
Baghaei said Iran had proved its seriousness and goodwill in the talks and is in a hurry to lift the “illegal” sanctions imposed on the country.
Pointing to the brief encounter between the Iranian and US delegations on Friday, he said, “There is an understanding to continue the diplomatic process, which is important.”
Meanwhile, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, arrived in the Sultanate of Oman on Tuesday, the Oman News Agency reported.
According to an official statement by the Omani Royal Court, Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said met with the visiting Iranian official, discussing the latest developments related to the Iranian-US negotiations and ways to reach a balanced and fair agreement between the two sides.
The statement stressed the importance of returning to dialogue to resolve disputes peacefully, enhance mutual understanding, and promote regional and global peace.
Friday talks between Iran and the United States in the Omani capital Muscat came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington in view of the latter’s military buildup in the West Asia region.
Following the negotiations, Trump said the discussions were “very good” and that further negotiations were expected. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Araghchi, in his remarks, said, “In general, I can say that it was a good start. However, the continuation of the process depends on the two sides’ consultations in their capitals and their decisions about how to continue it.”