The talks come as the U.S. ramps up its military presence in the Middle East and Iran holds large-scale maritime exercises.

There may be some movement toward a deal between the United States and Iran. This follows talks on Tuesday in Geneva, but progress has been slow and it comes despite new provocations from Iran.

The Ford and its strike group have set sail in the Atlantic on Tuesday and are heading for the Strait of Gibraltar, the entrance way toward the Mediterranean Sea.

The US military is continuing a significant buildup of air and naval assets in the Middle East as negotiations over a deal with Iran continued with talks in Geneva on Tuesday. The pieces are being moved into place both to pressure Tehran as terms of a deal are discussed and to have options to strike inside the country should negotiations over its nuclear program fail,

The United States and Iran resumed their negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying general agreement on "a set of guiding principles" had been reached.

By Simon Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi WASHINGTON/DUBAI, Feb 4 - The U.S. and Iran have agreed to hold talks in Oman on Friday, officials for both sides said, even as they remained at odds over Washington's insistence that negotiations include Tehran's missile arsenal and Iran's vow to discuss only its nuclear program.

A second round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program concluded on February 17, according to Iran's state broadcaster.

US-Iran Distance: The US and Iran are separated by thousands of kilometers, but missile technology can bridge this distance in minutes. In today's wars, time and technology, not distance, have become the most powerful weapons. On Thursday, the ...