U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed Washington’s readiness to hold a meeting with Iran, stressing that the talks must include discussion of ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, an Iranian diplomat said that Muscat may be the venue for the upcoming talks, noting that Washington is seeking to broaden the negotiations to include Iran’s regional activities.

Rubio told reporters, “We are open to engaging directly with the Iranian regime, and President Donald Trump is ready to communicate with any party. We do not see that as a concession.”

He added, “We are prepared to meet with the Iranians on Friday if they want to. We thought we had agreed to hold the talks in Turkey, but yesterday I saw conflicting reports from the Iranian side, and we are working on that.”

Rubio continued, “We prefer to hold a meeting with the Iranians, but we are not sure an agreement can be reached with them,” noting that “President Trump has several options for dealing with developments in Iran.”

He emphasized that “the talks with Iran must include discussion of ballistic missiles in order to lead to something meaningful.”