United States and Iran Set to Engage in Second Round of Nuclear Discussions in Geneva

GENEVA – The United States and Iran are gearing up for a second round of discussions concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions this Tuesday in Geneva. This comes as the U.S. enhances its military presence in the Middle East, coinciding with Iran’s expansive naval drills.

U.S. President Donald Trump has consistently warned of potential military action to pressure Iran into limiting its nuclear activities. In response, Iran has promised to retaliate if provoked. Additionally, Trump has criticized Iran’s severe response to the widespread protests within the country.

The initial dialogue, which took place on February 6 in Oman, was indirect. American officials arrived at the meeting location once Iranian officials had departed, highlighted by SUVs bearing U.S. flags. Details regarding the logistics of the upcoming talks on Tuesday remain undisclosed.

Trump’s representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are set to participate in the new round of negotiations. During a visit to Budapest, Hungary, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism about reaching an agreement with Iran, despite the challenges. “I won’t prejudge the talks,” Rubio stated. “The president always favors peaceful and negotiated solutions.”

Leading the Iranian delegation, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi engaged in discussions with the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency on Monday in Geneva.

“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” Araghchi wrote on X. “What is not on the table: submission before threats.”

Last week, a top Iranian security official traveled to Oman and met with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, the chief intermediary in the talks, in a meeting likely focused on updates from the first round and next steps.

“Regional peace and security is our priority, and we urge restraint and wise compromise,” al-Busaidi wrote on X after his meeting with Ali Larijani, a former Iranian parliament speaker who now serves as the secretary to the country’s Supreme National Security Council.

Iran has in the past communicated its positions in writing when dealing with the Americans. Famously, Japan’s then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to hand Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a letter from Trump in 2019 that he refused to take.

Iran holds naval drills against the US military buildup

Iran announced that its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard started a drill early Monday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, waterways that are crucial international trade routes through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Separately, EOS Risk Group said sailors passing through the region received a radio warning that the northern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian territorial waters, likely would see a live-fire drill Tuesday. Iranian state TV did not mention the live-fire drill.

It was Iran’s second warning in recent weeks about a live-fire drill.

Last week, Trump said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to join other warships and military assets the U.S. has built up in the region.

The Ford, whose new deployment was first reported by The New York Times, will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers, which have been in the region for over two weeks. U.S. forces already have shot down an Iranian drone that approached the Lincoln on the same day last week that Iran tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict in a Mideast still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Iran says any deal must include easing of punishing sanctions

The Trump administration is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment or hand over its supply of uranium.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled that Tehran could be open to compromise on the nuclear issue, but is looking for an easing of international sanctions led by the United States.

“The ball is in America’s court. They have to prove they want to have a deal with us,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC on Sunday. “If we see a sincerity on their part, I am sure that we will be on a road to have an agreement.”

“We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program provided that they are also ready to talk about the sanctions,” he added.

The U.S. and Iran were in the middle of months of meetings when Israel’s launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June instantly halted the talks. The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel’s attacks decimated Iran’s air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as well.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

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Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.

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