Washington and Tehran are expected to hold their second round of talks about Iran’s nuclear programme in Geneva on Tuesday as the United States ramps up its military presence in the Middle East and Iran holds large-scale maritime exercises.
The first round of indirect talks was held in Oman on 6 February. The arrangements for Tuesday’s round of negotiations were not clear.
US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to partake in the new round of talks. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the US hopes to achieve a deal with Tehran, despite the difficulties.
“I’m not going to prejudge these talks,” Rubio said. “The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things.”
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading Iran's side in the talks, met with the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency 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 travelled 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 holds drills against US military buildup
The planned second round of talks comes as Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Tehran to agree to constrain its nuclear programme, and over its deadly crackdown on recent nationwide protests.
Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own should the US attack it.
On Monday, Iran announced that its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) started a drill early in the 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.
Trump announced last week that the largest aircraft carrier in the world, the USS Gerald R Ford, was en route to the Caribbean Sea and the Middle East to join other warships and military equipment the US has amassed there.
