Oman's Foreign Minister said on Friday that Iran was willing to end stockpiling and to surrender enriched uranium, as signs of an imminent confrontation in the Middle East became clearer.
It comes as the US, the UK and other countries began withdrawing embassy staff and urging citizens to leave Iran and Israel and Turkey suspended three flights from Istanbul to Tehran, data from Istanbul Airport showed.
“They will give it up. They will not be able to actually accumulate that material,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi said on CNN's Face the Nation. “So, there will be zero accumulation, zero stockpiling and full verification.”
The US and Iran have been engaged in a stand-off for weeks over the development of a new deal that would put limits on Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Oman has been the primary mediator in nuclear deal negotiations between the US and Iran
As the talks have slowly progressed, the US has sent a massive naval force to the Middle East.
Mr Al Busaidi said that current stockpiles would be blended down to a “neutral level”, ensuring that Iran will never be able to build a nuclear weapon.
He added that negotiators needed more time to come to a diplomatic solution, and the a “peace deal is within our reach”.
Asked whether he would use military force against Iran, US President Donald Trump told reporters that “we haven't made a final decision”.
“We're not exactly happy with the way they negotiated,” he said, referring to continuing talks on Iran's nuclear programme. He added that “we've had tremendous luck” with previous action against the country.
Mr Trump said that there was “always the risk” that the US would become embroiled in another drawn-out war in the Middle East. His Vice President JD Vance had earlier told The Washington Post that there was “no chance” the US would be drawn into another lengthy regional conflict.
Mr Trump later said “we have a very big decision to make”.
“We have a country that’s been for 47 years blowing people’s legs off, arms off,” he said in Texas. “They’ve been knocking out ships, killing people, lots of people, not only Americans, lots of people. Been terrible. 32,000 people killed over the last two, three months.”
Mr Vance met Mr Al Busaidi in Washington on Friday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s assessment that an understanding had been reached on “most elements of a potential agreement” during Thursday’s Geneva talks, as he urged the Trump administration to choose dialogue over confrontation.
Both sides have outlined their positions, but they remain far apart. What Iran appears willing to offer falls short of what Washington is demanding in exchange for sanctions relief and the avoidance of war.
Meanwhile, the US State Department announced plans for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to travel to Israel next Monday.
In Jerusalem, the US embassy authorised the departure of non-emergency staff and families of government personnel in Israel on Friday morning.
“On February 27, 2026, the Department of State authorised the departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members of US government personnel from Mission Israel due to safety risks,” the embassy said in a statement posted on X.
“Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,” the statement added.
The embassy’s decision is the latest step by a number of foreign missions in Israel, amid fears that Iran might launch retaliatory strikes. Iran said an attack would elicit a major response and a regional war. Israel, along with US military bases across the region, is seen as a likely target for the Iranian regime.
The New York Times reported that the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, sent staff an email on Friday morning in which he said the decision “will likely result in high demand for airline seats today”.
Those wishing to leave “should do so today”, Mr Huckabee wrote in an email sent at 10.24am local time. He urged them to find a flight out of Ben Gurion Airport to any destination for which they could book passage.
“Focus on getting a seat to any place from which you can then continue travel to DC, but the first priority will be getting expeditiously out of country,” the email added.
The State Department said that during his visit to Israel, Mr Rubio would discuss a range of regional priorities, including Iran, Lebanon and continuing efforts to implement Mr Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza. He is not planning to take reporters on the trip, in a rare break with decades of precedent for secretaries of state.
Meanwhile, the UK said its staff have been temporarily withdrawn from Iran. “Our embassy continues to operate remotely”, it added.
China has also called up its citizens to leave Iran immediately, citing a significant rise in external security risks. “Chinese nationals currently in Iran are advised to strengthen safety precautions and evacuate as soon as possible,” the foreign ministry said in a social media statement.
During last year’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, flights out of the former were grounded, stranding many.
A former Pentagon chief had said on Friday that the countdown for an American attack would begin when the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group arrives in the Middle East, where it joins the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier.
A member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, Avi Dichter, on Thursday confirmed media reports that the US stationed F-22 fighter jets in the country and is refuelling planes at Ben Gurion Airport.
Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was severely damaged when the US launched strikes in June, but not eliminated, and its technical knowledge cannot be reversed. At the same time, Washington has demonstrated a willingness to use military force, fundamentally changing the balance of pressure.
Beyond the nuclear file, Washington has also linked sanctions relief to broader concerns, including Iran’s missile programme and regional activities. Iran said the talks should only discuss the nuclear file.
It comes after Mr Trump said Iran has already developed missiles that are a threat to European and American bases in the region and is working to build missiles that will soon reach the US.
A US Defence Intelligence Agency report last year found that Iran is at least 10 years away from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
