While the talks are happening in Oman, we know US warships and aircraft have amassed near Iran’s coastal waters, with Trump threatening that “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.A military escalation is not completely beyond the realms of possibility and could serve Trump’s interest, according to Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges.The Oman-mediated talks in Muscat between Iranian and US officials are thought to be focused on reaching a deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme. But the US has pushed for the negotiations to cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, its support for regional proxies – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen and the Iranian government crackdown on nationwide protests. Iran pushed back, saying it wanted the talks to solely focus on the nuclear issue. Can United States be trusted ?

