Iran and the United States are talking in Geneva for a third time on Thursday as President Donald Trump seeks to delay Tehran's nuclear program while threatening it by deploying a massive number of aircraft and warships to the Middle East.
U.S. special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump, will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an effort to convince his country to halt its enrichment of uranium, a key step to building a nuclear bomb, and curtail or stop its production of long-range missiles.
Iran has maintained that it will continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits in ruins following a U.S. attack in June on three of its nuclear sites. If an American attack happens, Iran has said all U.S. military bases in the Mideast will considered legitimate targets and has also threatened to attack Israel.
The latest round of negotiations is the third since Israel's 12-day war with Iran last year, and their failure could again lead to a regional war across the Middle East.
Here’s the latest:
Iranian advisor suggests ‘agreement is within reach’ if talks are focused
A prominent advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader has suggested that Iran could reach an immediate agreement in talks with the U.S. if they focused solely Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons.
“If the main issue of the negotiations is Iran’s non-development of nuclear weapons, this is consistent with the Supreme Leader’s fatwa (religious declaration) and Iran’s defense doctrine, and an immediate agreement is within reach,” Ali Shamkhani wrote on X on Thursday.
He added that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has “sufficient support and authority” to come to a final agreement in the talks.
Shamkhani was wounded in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran earlier this year.
Oman says it presented Iran’s proposals to the US
Oman has presented Iran’s proposals to U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Thursday during the third round of nuclear negotiations taking place in Geneva, the Omani Foreign Ministry wrote on X.
The ministry published a photo of Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi with Witkoff and Kushner, signaling indirect talks are underway. The Foreign Ministry said al-Busaidi went over the U.S. inquiries and requests regarding Iran’s nuclear program and the necessary guarantees to achieve a deal, and said the talks were continuing in a “constructive” way.
Indirect talks between Iran and the US underway in Geneva
Oman’s Foreign Ministry published images of U.S. special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Bader al-Busaidi.
The location appeared to be the Omani diplomatic residence in Geneva along the shores of Lake Geneva. An Associated Press journalist earlier saw two convoys believed to be carrying Iranian and U.S. diplomats arrive there.
Iran and the U.S. are meeting in Geneva for nuclear negotiations, talks viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.
Iran says talks will focus only on nuclear issue
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s State TV that negotiations, as in previous rounds, will focus solely on the nuclear issue.
He added that the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency may also be present, similar to previous negotiations. “Our positions are clear: the lifting of sanctions and the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Baghaei said.
Convoy believed to be carrying American diplomats enters Omani residence
A convoy believed to be carrying American diplomats arrived Thursday to the Omani residence in Geneva for indirect talks with Iran.
An Associated Press journalist saw the convoy enter the compound.
Oman's foreign minister talks Iran with international nuclear agency chief
Oman’s foreign minister met Thursday with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Badr al-Busaidi’s meeting with Rafael Mariano Grossi of the IAEA comes as Iran and the United States hold indirect negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Oman’s Foreign Ministry announced the meeting, saying it came as “part of consultations and the exchange of views on technical matters related to the Iranian nuclear dossier and the new ideas currently under negotiation between the Iranian and American sides.”
The IAEA did not immediately acknowledge the meeting. The IAEA is the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, which likely would be the inspectors both countries would rely on in any possible deal.
US Sen. Lindsey Graham says he favors regime change
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a hardliner regarding U.S. policy on Iran, insists Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium to any degree, and said he was in favor of regime change.
“If media reports are true that there is a consideration of allowing Iran to have very small enrichment of uranium for face-saving purposes: screw that,” the Republican senator said in a post on X late Wednesday.
Accusing Iran’s government of being “the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” the senator from South Carolina said he “could care less about efforts to save face for this regime. I would like to see the people of Iran change the regime – it’s long overdue.”
Iranian foreign minister in interview ahead talks says deal possible
Just before leaving for the third round of nuclear negotiations with the United States, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today on Wednesday that he believes a “fair, balanced, and equitable deal” is possible based on foundations built during the previous talks. But he added that Iranians are approaching these talks with more caution, after Israel launched an attack during U.S.-Iranian nuclear negotiations last June, and the U.S. also attacked multiple Iranian nuclear sites.
“The wounds of that aggression is still alive in our minds,” he said. “This time, we are obviously more careful.”
Araghchi added that rumors Iran was developing a missile capable of reaching the U.S. are “fake news” and that the country had capped its missile capabilities at a distance of 2,000 kilometers (1250 miles) for defensive purposes only.
He also stressed that Iran’s red line is that it will not give up its ability to enrich uranium, which he said the country does for peaceful purposes. Iran can offer permanent “confidence” that its program is peaceful in exchange for the total termination of sanctions, he said.
American supercarrier leaves Greek port for Middle East waters
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, left an American naval base in southern Greece Thursday after a brief stopover of a few days while on its way to the Middle East, where the U.S. has amassed a large number of warships and aircraft as tension with Iran spikes.
Tugboats towed the aircraft carrier away from the Souda Bay naval base on the island of Crete as talks between Iran and the United States were due to begin in Geneva.
Iran's president says religious leader doesn't want nukes
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran will not have nuclear weapons because the country’s religious leader has said the country does not plan to pursue nuclear weapons. ““The religious leader of a society can’t lie,” Pezeshkian said on state television on Thursday in Sari, northern Iran, as the third round of nuclear negotiations with the U.S. are about to take place in Geneva. “When he announces that we won’t have nuclear weapons, it means we won’t. Even if I want to do that, I can’t, because of my beliefs."
Oman's foreign minister flashes a thumbs up
Oman’s foreign minister flashed a thumbs up to an Associated Press journalist on Thursday who shouted a question about whether he was hopeful about the talks.
Badr al-Busaidi was leaving a hotel in Geneva on Thursday morning. He sped away in a sedan guided by a police escort.
Oman says it has received Iranian proposals
Oman said Thursday it had received “views and proposals” from Iran on the ongoing nuclear talks.
In a statement on the state-run Oman News Agency, it said Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi received the information in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Al-Busaidi “is expected to meet with the American negotiating team this morning to convey the Iranian perspective and, in turn, listen to the ideas and proposals put forward by the American side,” the agency said.
From there, further indirect talks will take place.
Most Americans see Iran as an enemy but doubt Trump’s judgment on military force, AP-NORC poll finds
A new AP-NORC poll found that many U.S. adults continue to view Iran’s nuclear program as a threat, but few Americans have high trust in President Donald Trump’s judgment on the use of military force abroad.
The survey was conducted Feb. 19-23, as military tensions built in the Middle East between the United States and Iran.
It found that about half of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the United States, but only about one-quarter of Americans say they have high trust in Trump on relationships with adversaries or the use of military force abroad.
Read more here.
Iranian foreign minister meets Omani counterpart
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi after arriving in Geneva on Wednesday night. The men “reviewed the views and proposals that the Iranian side will present to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, based on the guiding principles agreed upon in the previous round of negotiations,” a report from the state-run Oman News Agency said.
Latest round of talks in Geneva under Omani mediation
These latest talks in Geneva are again being mediated by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that’s long served as an intermediary between Iran and the West.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran has to stop nuclear and missile programs
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said just ahead of the talks that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”
Rubio also told reporters late Wednesday in St. Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit with Caribbean leaders that Iran is “trying to achieve intercontinental ballistic missiles.”