Foreign Minister Abbas Aragushi’s remarks ahead of the Geneva talks came as the second US aircraft carrier was heading to the Middle East.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said ahead of talks between the two countries in Geneva, Switzerland, that a deal with the United States to avoid conflict is “within reach.”
Araghchi said the “historic opportunity to forge an unprecedented agreement” depended on “diplomacy being a priority,” referring to US President Donald Trump’s continued threat to use military force against Iran.
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In a statement shared on social media on Tuesday, Iran’s top diplomat added that while it remains “very clear” that the country “will not develop nuclear weapons under any circumstances”, it also recognizes the right of the Iranian people to benefit from “peaceful nuclear technology”.
The indirect talks scheduled for Thursday in Geneva will be the third round of Oman-mediated talks between the US and Iranian governments, and Oman said it hoped to see “a positive push to move further towards a deal.”
Late Tuesday night, President Trump delivered his State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., and once again struck a bellicose tone toward Tehran. He prioritized diplomacy, but accused Iran of developing missiles that could “soon reach the United States.”
“My hope is to resolve this issue through diplomacy,” Trump said. “But one thing is for sure: We will never allow the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism to acquire nuclear weapons. We cannot allow that to happen.”
After the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025, President Trump said, “We were warned not to make any further attempts to rebuild our weapons programs, especially nuclear weapons, and yet our weapons program continues.”
“They are starting over. We wiped it out, but they want to start over and at this moment they are pursuing their evil ambitions again. We are negotiating with them. They want an agreement, but we have not heard the secret words: ‘We will never have nuclear weapons.'”
“A strong fortress”
Araghchi is leading negotiations on behalf of Iran, with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner representing the United States.
After recent talks in Geneva, President Trump said Iran had 10 to 15 days to reach a “meaningful agreement,” again referring to the possibility of military intervention amid a major U.S. military buildup near Iran.
Thursday’s talks come as the US Navy docks its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, at a NATO base on the Greek island of Crete, en route to the Middle East, where the US has increased its military presence in recent weeks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is also conducting military exercises in the country’s south and said it had built “strong fortifications” in the area.
“The Iranian public’s mood is mixed, oscillating between fear of war and hopes for diplomacy as Americans build up their military presence in the region,” Al Jazeera’s Tohid al-Assadi, reporting from Tehran, said.
Assadi said the talks come in tandem with “popular discontent” that was “initially caused by economic hardship”, as seen in the “massive protests” across Iran in December.
“Currently, for at least the past three days, echoes of dissatisfaction have also been heard in the political and social spheres at some major universities in the capital region and across the country,” he added.
The United States has acknowledged that this has caused a U.S. dollar shortage in Iran and caused severe economic consequences, including the collapse of one of Iran’s largest banks ahead of street protests in December.
