By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Parisa Hafezi
ISTANBUL/ DUBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is working hard to prevent U.S.-Iran tensions from tipping the Middle East into a new conflict, as the two adversaries signal that disagreement over Tehran’s missile arsenal threatens to torpedo a deal.
Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a visit to Egypt, Erdogan added that talks at the level of the U.S. and Iranian leadership would be helpful after lower-level nuclear negotiations due in Oman on Friday, according to a transcript of his comments shared by his office on Thursday.
Turkey was doing its best to prevent an escalation, said Erdogan, who has spent years cultivating a close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump while expanding Ankara’s diplomatic influence across the Middle East and beyond.
Iran and the U.S. remain at odds over Washington’s insistence that negotiations include Tehran’s missile arsenal and Iran’s vow to discuss only its nuclear program, in a standoff that has led to mutual threats of airstrikes.
Differences over the scope and venue for the discussions have raised doubts whether the meeting would take place, leaving open the possibility that Trump could carry out a threat to strike Iran.
Asked on Wednesday whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be worried, Trump told NBC News: “I would say he should be very worried. Yeah, he should be.” He added that “they’re negotiating with us” but did not elaborate.
After Trump spoke, U.S. and Iranian officials said the two sides had agreed to shift the talks’ location to Muscat after initially accepting Istanbul.
But there was no indication they had found common ground on the agenda.
Tensions are high across the region as the U.S. builds up forces there, and regional players seek to avoid a military confrontation that many fear could escalate into a wider war.
TRUMP WARNED OF ‘BAD THINGS’ IF NO IRAN DEAL AGREED
Iran says the talks must be confined to its long-running nuclear dispute with Western powers, rejecting a U.S. demand to also discuss Tehran’s missiles, and warning that pushing issues beyond the nuclear programme could jeopardise the talks.
But U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that talks would have to include the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles, its support for armed proxy groups around the Middle East and its treatment of its own people, besides nuclear issues. Iranian sources say the U.S. is demanding Tehran limits the range of Iran’s missiles to 500 km (310 miles).
Tehran’s regional sway has been weakened by Israel’s attacks on its proxies - from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq - as well as by the ousting of Iran’s close ally, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
While the talks were originally slated for Turkey, Iran wanted the meeting to take place in Oman as a continuation of previous talks held in the Gulf Arab country that had focused strictly on Tehran’s nuclear programme, a regional official said.
Iran says its nuclear activities are meant for peaceful, not military purposes, while the U.S. and Israel have accused it of past efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
A Gulf official said the talks could be mediated by several countries, though Iran has indicated that it wants a two-way format limited to Washington and Tehran.
The diplomatic efforts follow Trump’s threats of military action against Iran during its bloody crackdown on protesters last month and the deployment of more naval power to the Gulf.
The U.S. has sent thousands of troops to the Middle East, as well as an aircraft carrier, other warships, fighter jets, spy planes and air refueling tankers.
After Israel and the United States bombed the Islamic Republic last summer, renewed friction has kindled fears among regional states of a major conflagration that could rebound on them or cause long-term chaos in Iran.
Trump has warned that “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic.
(Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by William Maclean)
