U.S. and Iranian officials will meet for a third round of indirect talks in Geneva Thursday to resolve their longstanding nuclear dispute amid Donald Trump’s mounting threats of a military strike against Tehran.
The two nations renewed negotiations this month in a last-ditch effort to find a diplomatic solution to the decades-long stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear program, even as the Trump administration imposed sweeping new sanctions and continued to build up its military presence in the Middle East.
U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will attend the indirect talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, in Switzerland. The talks follow discussions in Geneva last week and will be mediated by Oman’s Foreign Minister, Badr Albusaidi.
Araqchi arrived in the Swiss city Wednesday and met his Omani counterpart ahead of the talks. Before he departed from Iran, Araqchi said a “fair, balanced and equitable deal” was within reach.
He reiterated that Iran would not forgo its right to peaceful nuclear technology, which Washington views as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. “A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” Araqchi said in a statement on X.
U.S. Vice President, JD Vance, on Wednesday accused Iran of attempting to rebuild its nuclear program after U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites last June. “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. That would be the ultimate military objective, if that’s the route that (Trump) chose,” Vance told Fox News.
“In fact, we’ve seen evidence that they have tried to do exactly that … As the president has said repeatedly, he wants to address that problem diplomatically, but of course the president has other options as well.”
Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech to Congress Tuesday, saying his preference was to solve the problem through diplomacy, but that he would not allow Tehran to have a nuclear weapon. He first threatened to bomb Iran last month as the government increased its crackdown on anti-government protests, killing thousands of people.
He warned that it would be a “very bad day” for Iran if no deal was reached to solve a longstanding dispute. Iran has threatened to strike American bases in the region if it is attacked.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded to the allegations by accusing the U.S. of repeating “big lies” regarding its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and the number of protesters killed in the crackdown.
U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, speaking in Saint Kitts and Nevis, said the Geneva talks would centre largely on Iran’s nuclear program. He reiterated Washington’s concerns over Tehran’s ballistic missile activities, warning that Iran was seeking to develop them into intercontinental-range weapons.
“Beyond just the nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans if they so choose to do so…They already possess weapons that can reach much of Europe already now, as we speak,” Rubio said.
The Trump administration has been assembling a massive military force in the Middle East, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict. In June last year, the U.S. joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites, in a strike which Trump claimed had “obliterated” the country’s nuclear facilities.
Trump said on February 19 Iran must make a deal in 10-15 days, warning that “really bad things” would otherwise happen.
The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled sweeping sanctions targeting more than 30 individuals, entities and vessels accused of bankrolling Iran’s oil exports, ballistic missile program and weapons manufacturing network.
Tehran was reportedly offering fresh concessions in exchange for sanctions relief and recognition of its right to enrich uranium, as it seeks to avert a U.S. attack.
However, the two sides remain deeply divided, including over the scope and sequencing of relief from crippling U.S. sanctions, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
Inside Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei faces what is seen as the gravest crisis of his 36-year rule, with the economy buckling under tightened sanctions and renewed protests following major unrest and a bloody crackdown in January.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is also expected to be in Geneva during the talks for discussions with both sides, as he did last week.
