‘He Should Be Worried’: Trump Warns Khamenei As US-Iran Nuclear Talks Revived At The Last Minute

Last Updated:February 05, 2026, 03:09 IST

Talks were rescued after at least nine West Asian nations urged Washington not to abandon diplomacy with Tehran.

Trump says Khamenei “should be very worried” in blunt warning to Iran’s Supreme Leader as diplomacy hangs by a thread. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning to Iran’s leadership on Wednesday even as plans for nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran were revived at the last minute following intense lobbying by West Asian allies.

Asked by broadcaster NBC’s reporters whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei should be worried, Trump replied sharply: “I would say he should be very worried, yeah, he should be.”

The threat-laden remark came hours after the Trump administration agreed to go ahead with talks with Iran on Friday — a meeting that had appeared close to collapse earlier in the day.

According to a report by Axios, the negotiations are now set to take place in Oman after several West Asian countries intervened and urged Washington not to abandon diplomacy.

The United States had originally planned to hold the meeting in Istanbul with a multilateral format involving regional observers. But Iran insisted on shifting the venue to Muscat and restricting the talks to a bilateral discussion focused only on nuclear issues.

US officials initially rejected the demand and warned the meeting would be cancelled altogether. However, that position was reversed after at least nine countries from the region reached out to the White House at the highest levels, Axios reported.

“They asked us to keep the meeting and listen to what the Iranians have to say. We have told the Arabs that we will do the meeting if they insist. But we are very sceptical,” one US official told the news outlet.

A second US official said Washington agreed to proceed with the talks “to be respectful” to regional allies and “in order to continue pursuing the diplomatic track.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later confirmed the development on social media, saying the talks were “scheduled to be held in Muscat on about 10 am Friday.” He added: “I’m grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements.”

The sudden turnaround marked the end of a day of uncertainty. Earlier, US officials had declared the meeting effectively dead after Tehran demanded changes to both the venue and format.

“We told them it is this or nothing, and they said, ‘Ok, then nothing,’” a senior US official had told Axios before the reversal.

That standoff had triggered fears across West Asia that the diplomatic process could collapse entirely and push Trump toward military action against Iran.

The original US plan had envisioned two parallel tracks — direct US-Iran talks on reviving a nuclear agreement, and broader multilateral discussions on Iran’s missile programme, regional activities and human rights concerns.

Iran rejected that structure, arguing that only nuclear issues should be on the table. The disagreement over format and location led Washington to briefly pull the plug on the meeting before allies intervened.

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