US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, even as Washington and Tehran prepared to resume negotiations with the aim of avoiding a new conflict.
Oman facilitated talks between Iran and the US last week, which, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, allowed Tehran to assess Washington’s seriousness and showed enough consensus for diplomacy to continue.
The talks came after Trump positioned an aircraft carrier in the region, raising fears of further military action. Trump, who joined an Israeli bombing campaign last year and targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, threatened last month to intervene militarily during a bloody government crackdown on protests across Iran but ultimately backed down.
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In interviews with Israeli media, Trump said the United States would have to do “something very tough” if a deal with Iran was not reached.
“Either we reach an agreement or we will have to do something very tough,” he said, according to Israel’s Channel 12.
The date and location of the next round of talks between the US and Iran have not yet been announced.
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Trump told Channel 12 and Axios that he was also considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
The USS George Washington, in Asia, and the USS George HW Bush, off the east coast of the United States, are the most likely candidates, according to officials interviewed by Reuters, but each of them is at least a week away from the Middle East. The Pentagon could also send the Ford aircraft carrier, which is in the Caribbean.
“After the negotiations, we felt that there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei.
The spokesman said that Tuesday’s trip to Oman by Ali Larijani, advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been planned in advance and that Larijani would then travel to Qatar, which has also mediated several crises in the Middle East.
Oil prices eased on Tuesday as traders focused on tensions between Iran and the US.
A Reuters analysis of satellite images showed a recent increase in aircraft and other military equipment across the region.
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In particular, U.S. forces at Al-Udeid, Qatar, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East, have placed missiles on truck launchers as tensions with Iran have risen since January, allowing them to be moved more quickly if necessary.
Differences over missile stock discussion
Oman’s state news agency said Larijani and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman discussed ways to reach a “balanced and fair” agreement between Iran and the US, emphasizing the importance of returning to dialogue to overcome differences and promote regional and global peace and security.
The US is seeking to expand the scope of negotiations with Iran beyond the nuclear issue in order to contain Iran’s ballistic missile program, one of the largest in the Middle East.
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Tehran says its missile arsenal has been rebuilt since the 12-day bombing campaign carried out by Israel and the US last year, and that its stockpile is non-negotiable.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to use a meeting with Trump in Washington on Wednesday to press for any deal between the US and Iran to include limitations on Tehran’s missiles.
Baghaei said the US “must act independently of foreign pressures, especially Israeli pressures that ignore the interests of the region and even the US.”
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In any negotiations, Iran would continue to demand the lifting of financial sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights, including enrichment, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said.
Washington demands that Iran give up its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step below the 90% considered weapons-grade.
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said on Monday that the possibility of diluting uranium enriched to 60% ‘depends on whether, in return, all sanctions are lifted or not.”
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Since Trump attacked Iran’s facilities, Tehran has said it has halted enrichment activities. The country has always stated that its nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes.
