Once again, some of the highest stakes in Middle East geopolitics will be discussed in this quiet coastal city without skyscrapers.

Here in Muscat, the capital of Oman nestled against the sheer stone heights of the Hajar Mountains, Iran and the United States will meet for talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program for the time time since President Donald Trump began his second term.

Iran is seeking a "real and fair" agreement with the United States on its nuclear program, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman.

Longtime adversaries Iran and the U.S. are set to hold talks on Saturday in Muscat, aimed at reaching a potential nuclear deal. U.S. President Donald Trump last month sent a letter to Khamenei urging negotiations and warning of possible military action if Tehran refuses.

President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he'd imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America's trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.

The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.

Two videos, two different stories about Russia's war in Ukraine. In one of them, the prisoners appear to live. In the other, they die.

The Associated Press has obtained a video from a Ukrainian drone showing soldiers with Russian uniform markings killing Kyiv's forces who had surrendered to them. It also has discovered a second video, recorded by a Russian drone, of the same incident that sheds light on how Moscow is framing it.

The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to use a 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport Venezuelan migrants it accuses of being gang members, ending the temporary halt on deportations ordered by a federal district judge.

Sudan told the United Nations' top court on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates is breaching the genocide convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, in a case vigorously contested by the UAE.

The northeast African country is asking the International Court of Justice to issue emergency orders, known as provisional measures, including telling the UAE to do all it can to prevent the killing and other crimes targeting the Masalit people during Sudan's two-year civil war.

The Kremlin said Thursday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "wrong" to suggest Russia was dragging China into the Ukraine conflict, after Kyiv claimed many Chinese citizens were fighting for Moscow.

"Partner, friend, and comrade. China has always taken a very balanced position, so Zelensky is wrong," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, in a briefing call.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday issued new sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program, just days before senior American and Iranian officials are expected to hold talks in the Middle East sultanate of Oman.

Five entities and one person based in Iran are cited in the new sanctions for their support of Iran's nuclear program. The designated groups include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and subordinates Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, Thorium Power Company, Pars Reactors Construction and Development Company and Azarab Industries Co.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the "leader" of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn't give up its nuclear weapons program.

Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend's scheduled talks involving U.S. and Iranian officials in the Middle East sultanate of Oman. Trump earlier this week said the talks would be "direct" while Iran has described the engagement as "indirect" talks with the U.S.

Iran and the United States will hold talks in the sultanate of Oman on Saturday in an attempt to jump-start negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

President Donald Trump insists they'll be direct negotiations. However, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he'll be speaking indirectly through a mediator to U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.