US and Iranian officials are due this week to hold their first talks since Iran launched a deadly crackdown on protests, in a meeting likely to be crucial in determining if the US carries out renewed military action against the Islamic republic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that "nuclear talks with the United States are scheduled to be held in Muscat" Friday morning, thanking Oman "for making all the necessary arrangements".

Tehran has repeatedly stressed that negotiations should remain focused solely on the nuclear issue, but Washington's top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said they must encompass many other areas of concern.

"In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles, that includes their sponsorship of terrorist organisations across the region, that includes their nuclear program and that includes the treatment of their own people," he said.

The American side has confirmed neither the timing nor the agenda of the negotiations.

- What is at stake? -

Trump has not ruled out fresh military action against Iran should the talks fail, to follow the US attacks........

© Al Monitor