By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Iran pledged to show flexibility at indirect talks with the United States on their longstanding nuclear dispute on Thursday, with Tehran under pressure to agree to a deal or face U.S. military strikes.
The third round of talks in Geneva, which began on Thursday morning, will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme against the backdrop of a huge U.S. military buildup in the Middle East ordered by President Donald Trump.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile programme was a “major problem” that would have to be addressed eventually, as the missiles were “designed solely to strike America” and pose a threat to regional stability.
“If you can’t even make progress on the nuclear program, it’s going to be hard to make progress on the ballistic missiles as well,” Rubio told reporters in Saint Kitts.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Press TV on Thursday that the negotiations would focus solely on nuclear topics and the lifting of sanctions, and said Tehran goes into them with “seriousness and flexibility”.
IMPASSE ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM
The two countries renewed negotiations this month, seeking to break a decades-long impasse over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were due to attend the indirect talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a U.S. official said. The meeting follows discussions in Geneva last week and will again be mediated by Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.
Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, underlining that while he preferred a diplomatic solution, he would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
He has deployed fighter jets, aircraft carrier strike groups as well as destroyers and cruisers in the region, hoping to pressure Iran into concessions.
On Wednesday evening, Araqchi and Albusaidi discussed the proposals Iran will put forward to reach an agreement, according to a statement posted on X by Oman’s foreign ministry.
PRESSURE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE IRAN
The biggest U.S. military deployment in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has raised fears of a wider regional conflict. In June last year, the U.S. joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has threatened to retaliate fiercely if attacked again.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the biggest U.S. aircraft carrier, left port near the Greek island of Crete on Thursday bound for shores near Haifa in northern Israel, where it is expected to arrive on Friday. The U.S. has also sent around a dozen F-22 fighter jets to Israel – the first time Washington has deployed combat aircraft to the country for potential wartime operations, a U.S. official said.
The Trump administration has not formally announced the deployment. The Pentagon declined to comment.
Trump said on February 19 that Iran must make a deal in 10 to 15 days, warning that “really bad things” would otherwise happen.
Oil prices inched up on Thursday as investors gauged whether the talks could avert a military conflict that risks supply disruptions, though gains were capped by higher U.S. crude inventories.
Saudi Arabia is increasing its oil production and exports as part of a contingency plan in case any U.S. strike on Iran disrupted supplies from the Middle East, two sources said on Wednesday.
Araqchi said on Tuesday Iran aimed to achieve a fair, swift deal, but reiterated that it would not forgo its right to peaceful nuclear technology. Washington views nuclear enrichment inside Iran 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.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Tehran was offering new concessions in return for removal of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
But the sides remain sharply divided – even over the scope and sequencing of relief from crippling U.S. sanctions – a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
Within Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei faces the gravest crisis of his 36-year tenure, with an economy buckling under tightened sanctions and renewed protests following major unrest and crackdown in January.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Khamenei has banned weapons of mass destruction, which “clearly means Tehran won’t develop nuclear weapons,” reiterating a fatwa issued in the early 2000s.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle, David Brunnstrom, Katharine Jackson and Joseph Ax in Washington; Francois Murphy in Vienna and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Writing by Olivia Le Poidevin and Michael Georgy; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Stephen Coates and Ros Russell)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.