U.S. and Iran hold nuclear talks as Trump raises pressure with military buildup
The United States and Iran met in Geneva on Thursday for negotiations aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to their long-running nuclear conflict, as President Donald Trump put pressure on Tehran. with the threat of military action.
The talks – a third round of indirect negotiations – began early Thursday morning, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Trump said Iran was working to develop missiles that could “soon” reach the United States. — his clearest argument for a possible attack after overseeing a vast military buildup in the region.
“The principle is very simple: Iran cannot have nuclear weapons,” Vice President JD Vance said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“If they try to rebuild a nuclear weapon, it will cause us problems,” he said, adding that Washington had “seen the evidence that they tried to do just that.”
Iran has consistently denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon and has warned of an intense response to even a limited attack from the United States or Israel.
Tehran has rejected Trump’s claims that he has “sinister nuclear ambitions” and calls them “big lies.”
The talks come as the United States carries out an intensive military buildup in the Middle East, the largest in decades, while the president weighs options for possible attacks.
Trump’s assertion that Iran was seeking to build a missile capable of reaching the United States comes after weeks of mixed messages from Washington over the reasons for the military buildup.
The president initially threatened to intervene amid a deadly crackdown on nationwide unrest in Iran last month, but his administration’s threats have focused in recent weeks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, which he simultaneously claimed was “wiped out” in U.S. strikes last June.
Trump said Tuesday that even if the operation was successful, Tehran had “started all over again.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio expanded on this topic on Wednesday. He told reporters that Iran is “still trying to rebuild parts” of its nuclear program. Tehran is not enriching uranium at the moment, Rubio said, “but they are trying to get to the point where eventually they can.”
In addition to its enrichment commitments, the United States has pushed for concessions from Iran on its ballistic missile program and its support for militant forces in the Middle East.
Iran has insisted that the negotiations must remain focused on nuclear issues.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the United States and Iran demonstrated “openness to new and creative ideas” after meeting with President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Oman’s official news agency reported, sharing photos of the meeting.
Iran’s proposals for Thursday’s talks have not been made public, but the country has stressed that it hopes for the lifting of sanctions in exchange for possible concessions on its nuclear program.
On the eve of the negotiations, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the country’s oil exports and ballistic missile production.
Ali Shamkhani, senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said Tehran’s “commitment not to build nuclear weapons” was “in line with the leader’s fatwa and Iran’s defense doctrine,” the official Nour news agency reported Thursday.
“A rapid agreement is within reach,” he added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state television on Thursday that “Iran entered the negotiations with full preparation and seriousness.”
