Iran and US to hold talks in Oman amid rising tensions

Nuclear talks between Iran and the United States will take place on Friday in Oman, the Iranian foreign minister said, as tensions between the countries remain high following Tehran's bloody crackdown on protests and riots last month.

The announcement came after hours of indications that the talks were faltering over changes in the format and content.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, sent a blunt warning to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of the talks.

Various fighter jets take off from the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier somewhere in the Arabian Sea.

A military helicopter hauls supplies from replenishment oiler, the USNS Henry J Kaiser, and deposits them on the Abraham Lincoln.

The fleet is standing by for word from President Donald Trump, with an attack on Iran a potential scenario.

Trump, in an interview with NBC, sent a warning to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei ahead of talks.

When asked if the supreme leader be worried right now, Trump replied: "I would say he should be very worried, yeah, he should be. As you know, they're negotiating with us."

The reporter then asked where are the Americans who promised the Iranians they would have their backs, to which Trump said: "We've had their back and look that country is a mess right now because of us, we went in, we wiped out their nuclear.

"Peace in the Middle East. If I didn't take out their nuclear. Think of it - if we didn't take out that nuclear, we wouldn't have peace in the Middle East."

Apart from a perceived nuclear threat, the US said it would attack Iran for the way they handled street protests last month, during which thousands were killed, including hundreds of police officers.

Israel's Mossad intelligence unit, in a rare admission, said they were "in the field" during the Iran protests.

And US Treasury Secretary admitted during the World Economic Forum in Davos to "economic statecraft" linking Washington to Iran's currency crisis that sparked the riots.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks will take place on Friday in Oman, instead of Turkey as originally stated.

One source told the Associated Press that the US remains skeptical but agreed to the talks only to appease its Arab and Muslim allies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Iranians wanted a change of format to the talks to narrow the scope.

"If the Iranians want to meet, we're ready," said Rubio. "They've expressed an interest in meeting and talking. If they change their mind, we're fine with that too. We'd prefer to meet and talk. I'm not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we're going to try to find out.

"We don't see there's any harm in trying to figure out there's something that can be done. This is a president that always prefers a peaceful outcome to any conflict or any challenge."