Iran sees the chance of a good outcome from a third round of talks with the United States, its President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday, as a delegation left for Geneva for negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
A senior US official said on Monday that envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are slated to meet with the Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in Geneva on Thursday.
The two countries resumed negotiations over the long-disputed nuclear program earlier this month as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the region if it is attacked.
Trump on February 19 said he was giving Tehran about 10 to 15 days to make a deal.
“In relation to the talks, we see a good outlook, tomorrow in the meeting that Dr Araqchi will hold in Geneva… we have tried, with the guidance of the supreme leader, to manage this process to get out of the no war, no peace situation,” Pezeshkian said in comments carried by state media.
Araqchi said on Tuesday that a deal with the US was “within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority”.
Meanwhile, Witkoff told a private gathering that the Trump administration is demanding any nuclear deal with Iran should remain in effect indefinitely. Axios has reported, citing a US official and two others with knowledge of the comments.
The US and Israel believe Iran aspires to build a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel’s existence.
Iran says its nuclear program is purely peaceful, even though it has enriched uranium far beyond the purity needed for power generation, and close to what is required for a bomb.
Vance’s warning
Trump is pressuring the Iranian government in the wake of its violent crackdown on protesters and has amassed a large US naval presence in the region while threatening military strikes if Tehran does not reach a deal to resolve a longstanding dispute over its nuclear program.
US Vice President JD Vance told Iran on Wednesday to take Washington’s threats of military action “seriously,” a day after President Donald Trump appeared to build the case for war in his State of the Union address.
As US forces mass in the Middle East, Trump claimed in his speech to Congress on Tuesday that Iran was seeking to develop missiles that can strike the United States.
Trump also accused Iran of having “sinister nuclear ambitions” and working to rebuild a nuclear program that was targeted by US strikes last year.
Vance told Fox News that while Trump was going to try to “accomplish it diplomatically,” the US president also had the “right” to use military action.
“You can’t let the craziest and worst regime in the world have nuclear weapons,” said Vance.
“The president has a number of other tools at his disposal to ensure this doesn’t happen. He’s shown a willingness to use them and I hope the Iranians take it seriously in the negotiations tomorrow because that’s certainly what the president prefers.”
His comments came as the United States announced fresh sanctions targeting Iran, pressing on with what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign.
