On this picture launched by the Iranian International Ministry, Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi, proper, and Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA) Director-Common Rafael Grossi, left, maintain a gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026.
AP/Iranian International Ministry
disguise caption
toggle caption
AP/Iranian International Ministry
GENEVA — The U.S. and Iran are anticipated to carry their second spherical of talks about Iran’s nuclear program Tuesday in Geneva as america ramps up its navy presence within the Center East and Iran holds large-scale maritime workouts.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to make use of power to compel Iran to comply with constrain its nuclear program. Iran has stated it will reply with an assault of its personal. Trump has additionally threatened Iran over its lethal crackdown on current nationwide protests.
The primary spherical of talks Feb. 6 have been held in Oman, a sultanate on the japanese fringe of the Arabian Peninsula, and have been oblique, with SUVs flying the American flag getting into the palace venue solely after it appeared the Iranian officers had left. The preparations for Tuesday’s spherical of negotiations weren’t clear.
Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been touring for the brand new spherical of talks. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Budapest, Hungary, stated Monday that the U.S. hopes to attain a cope with Iran, regardless of the difficulties. “I’m not going to prejudge these talks,” Rubio stated. “The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things.”
Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi, who’s main the talks for Iran, met with the pinnacle of the U.N. nuclear watchdog company 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.”
Final week, a prime Iranian safety official traveled to Oman and met with Omani International Minister Badr al-Busaidi, the chief middleman within the talks, in a gathering doubtless centered on updates from the primary spherical and subsequent steps.
“Regional peace and security is our priority, and we urge restraint and wise compromise,” al-Busaidi wrote on X after his assembly with Ali Larijani, a former Iranian parliament speaker who now serves because the secretary to the nation’s Supreme Nationwide Safety Council.
Iran has previously communicated its positions in writing when coping with the People. Famously, Japan’s then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried handy Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a letter from Trump in 2019 that he refused to take.
Iran holds naval drills towards the US navy buildup
Iran introduced that its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard began a drill early Monday morning within the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, waterways which can be essential worldwide commerce routes by which 20% of the world’s oil passes.
Individually, EOS Danger Group stated sailors passing by the area obtained a radio warning that the northern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian territorial waters, doubtless would see a live-fire drill Tuesday. Iranian state TV didn’t point out the live-fire drill.
It was Iran’s second warning in current weeks a couple of live-fire drill.
Final week, Trump stated the usGerald R. Ford, the world’s largest plane provider, was being despatched from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to affix different warships and navy belongings the U.S. has constructed up within the area.
The Ford, whose new deployment was first reported by The New York Instances, will be part of the usAbraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers, which have been within the area for over two weeks. U.S. forces have already got shot down an Iranian drone that approached the Lincoln on the identical day final week that Iran tried to cease a U.S.-flagged ship within the Strait of Hormuz.
Gulf Arab nations have warned any assault may spiral into one other regional battle in a Mideast nonetheless reeling from the Israel-Hamas conflict within the Gaza Strip.
Iran says any deal should embody easing of punishing sanctions
The Trump administration is looking for a deal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program and guarantee it doesn’t develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it’s not pursuing weapons and has thus far resisted calls for that it halt uranium enrichment or hand over its provide of uranium.
Iran’s Deputy International Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled that Tehran might be open to compromise on the nuclear situation, however is searching for an easing of worldwide sanctions led by america.
“The ball is in America’s court. They have to prove they want to have a deal with us,” Takht-Ravanchi advised 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 have been in the midst of months of conferences when Israel’s launch of a 12-day conflict towards Iran again in June immediately halted the talks. The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear websites throughout that conflict, doubtless destroying lots of the centrifuges that spun uranium to close weapons-grade purity. Israel’s assaults decimated Iran’s air defenses and focused its ballistic missile arsenal as effectively.
Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceable functions. Earlier than the June conflict, Iran had been enriching uranium as much as 60% purity, a brief, technical step away from weapons-grade ranges.
