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Saturday marks the start of high-stakes negotiations between Iran and the United States to establish a new nuclear agreement, which have been anticipated by Tehran's warning that any attack on it will force the US into a wider Middle Eastern battle and President Trump's threat of military strikes in the event of failure.

Iran maintains that the talks will be indirect, with mediators serving as a go-between for the two countries, but the meeting, which is scheduled to take place in the Gulf Arab country of Oman, may be the first direct discussions between Iranian and American officials in ten years.

According to Iran's official news agency IRNA, an Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in Muscat, the capital of Oman, early on Saturday.

Iran has been granted a two-month window by President Donald Trump to agree to a deal that would reduce or eliminate Iran's nuclear program.

"I wish for them to be devoid of nuclear weapons. During his flight to Florida on Friday night, Trump stated, "I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country, but they can't have a nuclear weapon."

The negotiations follow 18 months in which Israeli bombings on its proxies, the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and unprecedented attacks within its own borders have severely undermined the Islamic Republic's ability to project regional authority.

The stakes are high on Saturday. Trump stated that if a new nuclear agreement isn't achieved, military attacks on Iran may occur, but he indicated that Israel, which has been calling for an assault on Iran, will lead the charge.

Trump declared on Wednesday, "We're going to have military if it requires it." Israel will undoubtedly play a significant role in that. They will be in charge of that.

However, Iran has consistently declined to engage in negotiations under pressure. According to semi-state news agency Tasnim, it set out its "red lines" for the negotiations on Friday, including "threatening" language, "excessive demands" regarding Iran's nuclear program, and Iran's defense industry. These are probably allusions to Tehran's ballistic missile program, which the Middle Eastern allies of the United States view as a security threat.

Following a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine in St. Petersburg on Friday, Trump administration Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff's involvement in the negotiations will add another file to his growing portfolio of complicated and unsolvable situations.

The president has pledged to reach a "stronger" agreement than the 2015 nuclear deal mediated by the Obama administration, which was intended to curtail Iran's nuclear program, even if the specific agenda for the negotiations is yet unknown. In 2018, Trump pulled out of the pact, describing it as a "disastrous" accord that provided funding to a government that supported terrorism.

Trump has expressed his desire to reach an agreement that would stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but he has not made clear how this agreement would differ from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. The goal of that agreement was to reduce Iran's nuclear program in return for the removal of Western sanctions.

According to a UN nuclear treaty, Tehran has the right to completely destroy its nuclear program, including its civilian energy component, which US officials have signaled they may pressure Iran to do.

However, Iranian leaders have rejected that plan as unrealistic, claiming the United States is using it as a ruse to undermine and eventually overthrow the Islamic Republic.

According to experts, Tehran views its nuclear program as its most powerful asset, and giving it up would put the nation in grave danger.

However, a senior administration official stated that the administration is not only considering a potential nuclear agreement but also wants to engage Iran on a variety of problems.

According to the person, the Saturday meeting will determine whether Iran is open to high-level talks that may result in conversations over Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as its backing for regional proxies.

"The question is, are they willing to put anything else on the table? Iran would be eager to jump back into something like JCPOA." The official stated.

• Trump uses a stick, while advisers try carrots.

Other US officials have adopted a significantly less aggressive stance, despite Trump's threat of conflict as a result of failed negotiations.

Late last month, Witkoff stressed that a diplomatic solution is possible. He outlined Iran's weaknesses and praised US military might in an interview with Tucker Carlson, but he quickly clarified that "this is not a threat."

"This is not a threat from me, if the Iranians ever hear this broadcast. That power belongs to the president," he stated.

The discussions could serve as a springboard for both parties to determine whether or not more talks are even feasible, according to a former US official.

"At best, Saturday is a table-setting exercise to see if a deal is even possible," a former US official who has engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran stated.

The former official stated, "I suspect Iran will pretend to show flexibility because the details in nuclear talks are crucial and are unlikely to be covered in this first episode."

According to State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce, it is currently a meeting with a stated objective rather than a negotiation.

"Assuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon is the very specific thing that needs to be done, which would make the world a much safer place," Bruce told reporters.

In a recent letter to Trump, Iran's supreme leader expressed an openness to negotiations that would result in Iran consenting to steps that would stop it from developing nuclear weapons.

However, there have been hiccups in the preparation for the crucial discussions on Saturday.

Those concerned have occasionally questioned whether they were ever going to take place, as Trump has insisted on a direct meeting while Iran has stated that they will only interact indirectly. Sources involved with the preparations, however, said that as of Friday, it seemed the negotiations were headed in the right direction.

• Talks are held against the backdrop of ongoing threats against Iran.

Foreign Minister Araghchi cautioned in a Washington Post essay this week that a war on Iran would entangle the US and the region in an expensive fight that a president elected on a platform opposed to war would be keen to avoid.

"It is inconceivable that President Trump would wish to lead the United States into another devastating war in the Middle East, one that would swiftly spread throughout the region and cost far more than the trillions of taxpayer dollars his predecessors spent in Afghanistan and Iraq," he wrote.

According to Witkoff, Israel's strikes left Iran's defenses "eviscerated," and Trump administration officials have attributed Iran's current predicament to Israel's activities.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was seated next to Trump, appeared taken aback by his announcement this week on Saturday's negotiations, despite the united front that US administration officials have publicly displayed with Israel. The declaration was "certainly not" to Israel's liking, according to two Israeli sources who spoke to CNN.

After his return, Netanyahu stated that if the nuclear negotiations continue, Israel might still attack Iran. As CNN previously reported, US intelligence services cautioned the Biden and Trump administrations that Israel seems likely to attack targets connected to Iran's nuclear program as part of that nation's effort to overthrow the Islamic Republic.