February 7, 2026
Abbas Araghchi made the comments to Al Jazeera as talks continued between the Islamic Republic and the US in Oman.
"Missiles are never negotiable because they are a defence issue," he said.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a delegation led by Araghchi in Muscat on Friday.
The talks were mediated by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, who said in a post on X that they had been “useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress”.
Despite both sides trading threats, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the two sides had agreed to limit discussions to Iran's nuclear programme, dropping the US demand for the talks to cover Iran's ballistic missiles.
The report said the US accepted Iran's conditions following interventions by other countries in the region, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Following weeks of escalating rhetoric, tensions are unlikely to ease quickly.
Moments after the indirect talks concluded, Washington announced new sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's oil exports, including targeting 14 vessels flagged in countries such as Turkey, India and the United Arab Emirates. It also announced sanctions on 15 entities and two people.
US aircraft carriers, meanwhile, remain positioned off Iran’s coastal waters, with US Central Command (Centcom) releasing footage showing the Nimitz-class USS Abraham Lincoln conducting a replenishment operation in the Arabian Sea.
On Thursday, Iran’s army spokesperson, Brigadier-General Mohammad Akraminia, said the military was ready for war, which would “encompass the entire region and all US bases” if that is what the US wanted.
US President Donald Trump has previously warned that “bad things” would likely happen if a deal could not be reached.
Meanwhile, the virtual US embassy in Iran issued an alert early on Friday urging American citizens to “leave Iran now”.
Israel's Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a parliamentary committee that “there is a build-up of conditions toward a critical mass that could bring about the downfall of the Iranian regime".
Iran has warned that it is prepared for regional conflict if its conditions for the negotiation framework are rejected, the report added.
Comments follow reports that Iran
and US agree to limit discussions to nuclear programme
Iran's missile programme was
"never negotiable" in talks, the country's foreign minister said on
Saturday.
Abbas Araghchi made the comments to Al Jazeera as talks continued between the Islamic Republic and the US in Oman.
"Missiles are never negotiable because they are a defence issue," he said.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a delegation led by Araghchi in Muscat on Friday.
The talks were mediated by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, who said in a post on X that they had been “useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress”.
Despite both sides trading threats, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the two sides had agreed to limit discussions to Iran's nuclear programme, dropping the US demand for the talks to cover Iran's ballistic missiles.
The report said the US accepted Iran's conditions following interventions by other countries in the region, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Following weeks of escalating rhetoric, tensions are unlikely to ease quickly.
Moments after the indirect talks concluded, Washington announced new sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's oil exports, including targeting 14 vessels flagged in countries such as Turkey, India and the United Arab Emirates. It also announced sanctions on 15 entities and two people.
US aircraft carriers, meanwhile, remain positioned off Iran’s coastal waters, with US Central Command (Centcom) releasing footage showing the Nimitz-class USS Abraham Lincoln conducting a replenishment operation in the Arabian Sea.
On Thursday, Iran’s army spokesperson, Brigadier-General Mohammad Akraminia, said the military was ready for war, which would “encompass the entire region and all US bases” if that is what the US wanted.
US President Donald Trump has previously warned that “bad things” would likely happen if a deal could not be reached.
Meanwhile, the virtual US embassy in Iran issued an alert early on Friday urging American citizens to “leave Iran now”.
Israel's Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a parliamentary committee that “there is a build-up of conditions toward a critical mass that could bring about the downfall of the Iranian regime".
Iran has warned that it is prepared for regional conflict if its conditions for the negotiation framework are rejected, the report added.
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