Dissident Iranian film director Jafar Panahi told AFP he believes ordinary Iranians risk being "sacrificed" in talks between Iran and the United States on Friday, with his country still "in shock" over a deadly crackdown on protests.

Panahi, Iran's best-known director, offered support for anti-government protests last month in which thousands of people were killed by security forces, according to rights groups.

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has departed for the Omani capital Muscat at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks with the U.S. due to be held on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson said.

The U.S. and Iran have agreed to hold talks in Oman on Friday, officials for both sides said, even as they remain at odds over Washington's insistence that negotiations must include Tehran's missile arsenal and Iran's vow to discuss only its nuclear programme.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has spearheaded talks on Gaza and Ukraine, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is Iran's face abroad.

On Friday, they meet in Muscat following a deadly crackdown on a mass protest movement against the Islamic republic that saw the United States threaten military action before agreeing to talks.

Here are short profiles of the two lead negotiators:

- Witkoff: real estate to world stage -

By Timour Azhari

MUKALLA, Yemen/RIYADH - After pushing the United Arab Emirates out of Yemen late last year, Saudi Arabia is deploying political capital and billions of dollars in a bid to bring its southern neighbor more firmly under its control, a sign of Riyadh reasserting itself regionally after years of prioritizing adomestic agenda, six officials told Reuters.

Authorities have evacuated more than 140,000 people from their homes since heavy rainfall flooded several provinces in northern Morocco last week, the interior ministry said Thursday.

Authorities have not announced any casualties, and the national weather service forecast heavy rains and strong winds to continue on Thursday and Friday across the north.

The severe weather came after Morocco struggled with seven consecutive years of drought.

Iran and the United States were preparing for talks on Friday in Oman, with Washington looking to see if there is any prospect of diplomatic progress on the Iranian nuclear programme and other issues while refusing to rule out military action.

The talks, which were finally confirmed by both sides late Wednesday after hours of doubt over the location, timing and format, will be the first such encounter between the two foes since the US joined Israel's war against the Islamic republic in June with strikes on nuclear sites.

By Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has drafted plans to build a compound to house thousands of displaced Palestinians in a part of south Gaza under Israeli military control, according to a map seen by Reuters and people briefed on the plans.

The planning map shows where the "UAE Temporary Emirates Housing Complex" would be constructed near Rafah, once a city of a quarter million people but now almost completely destroyed and depopulated by Israeli forces.

By Tim Cocks

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Activists behind a flotilla intercepted at sea last year by Israel while trying to bring aid to Gaza will try again this year, expecting more than twice as many boats carrying up to 1,000 medics, they said on Thursday.

The Israeli military halted the roughly 40 boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla last October as they attempted to reach blockaded Gaza, arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 other participants.

SAO PAULO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday he is likely to travel to Washington in the first week of March for a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

Speaking in an interview with news outlet UOL, Lula said Brazil would be interested in being part of Trump's Board of Peace, provided discussions were limited to Gaza.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Writing by Isabel Teles)

WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said that Washington and Moscow on Thursday agreed to reestablish high level military-to-military dialogue, following talks in Abu Dhabi, a move which could signal a move towards normalizing some ties between the United States and Russia.

The United States halted military-to-military communication with Moscow just before Russia invaded Ukraine. The conflict, which began in 2022, is the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the depths of the Cold War.