Rubio confirms Iran demanded venue change for nuclear talks

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed connected Wednesday that Iran requested to alteration locations for talks with its U.S. counterparts, pursuing respective reports connected the matter.

"We thought we had an established forum that had been agreed to successful Turkey. It was enactment unneurotic by a fig of partners who wanted to be and beryllium a portion of it," Rubio said erstwhile taking questions from reporters connected Wednesday. 

"I saw conflicting reports yesterday from the Iranian broadside saying that they had not agreed to that. So, that's inactive being worked through. At the extremity of the day, the United States is prepared to prosecute in, has ever been prepared to prosecute with Iran."

IRAN PUSHES FOR FRIDAY NUCLEAR TALKS IN OMAN AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH US FORCES: SOURCE

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks astatine the archetypal Critical Minerals Ministerial successful the Loy Henderson Conference Room astatine the State Department's Harry S. Truman Building connected Feb. 04, 2026, successful Washington, D.C.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A root acquainted with the discussions told Fox News connected Tuesday that Iran had requested to clasp atomic talks with the U.S. successful Oman connected Friday. Additionally, Axios reported that Iranian officials were pressing to bounds the talks to a bilateral U.S.-Iran format, excluding different Arab and determination countries — a determination that could complicate U.S. diplomatic efforts successful the region.

Rubio would not accidental what topics had been agreed on. Rather, helium laid retired matters that, successful his view, would request to beryllium discussed successful bid for the gathering to "actually pb to thing meaningful." The topics connected Rubio's database see the scope of Iran's ballistic missiles, its sponsorship of panic organizations, its atomic programme and the attraction of its people.

Iranians be an anti-government protestation successful Tehran, Iran, connected Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

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The caput besides spoke astir the anti-regime protests that person raged successful Iran since precocious December. When the demonstrations began, President Donald Trump said the U.S. would enactment if protesters were met with violence. Rubio credited Trump's pugnacious speech with the cancellation of protesters' executions, thing that the authorities has denied.

"The Iranian radical and the Iranian authorities are precise unalike," Rubio said. "The enactment of Iran astatine the clerical level does not bespeak the radical of Iran. I cognize of nary different state wherever there's a bigger quality betwixt the radical that pb the state and the radical who unrecorded there."

President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of imaginable U.S. enactment connected Iran. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images; Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Rubio said that the Islamic authorities is incapable to hole the economical problems plaguing its radical due to the fact that Iranian leaders are utilizing the country's wealth and resources to sponsor coercion and proxy groups astir the world.

On Tuesday, the U.S. subject changeable down an Iranian drone aft it "aggressively approached a U.S. Navy craft bearer with unclear intent," a U.S. Central Command spokesperson told Fox News.

The authorities taxation gathering burned during Iran's protests, connected a thoroughfare successful Tehran, Iran, Jan. 19, 2026.  (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

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Iran aboriginal claimed that the drone was conducting surveillance arsenic portion of a "routine and lawful ngo implicit planetary waters."

Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan, Greg Norman-Diamond and Liz Friden, and Fox News' Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.