Swiss Minister: Iran and the United States will hold nuclear talks in Geneva

Geneva (AFP) – The Swiss Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Iran and the United States will hold a second round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program next week.

The Swiss ministry said that Oman, which welcomed the first round of indirect talks on February 6, will host the talks in Geneva, without specifying the days.

After the first discussions, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that failure to reach an agreement with his administration would be “extremely painful.”

Similar talks collapsed last year in June when Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran that included US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to force Iran to agree to restrict its nuclear program. Iran said it would respond with an attack of its own. Trump also threatened Iran over its deadly crackdown on recent nationwide protests there.

The Gulf Arab states warned that any attack could turn into another regional conflict.

Trump said on Friday that the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Middle East to join other military assets the United States has established in the region. He also said that a change of power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”

The indirect talks that took place on February 6 were between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the American envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The top military commander in the Middle East was also present for the first time.

The Trump administration emphasized that Iran cannot enrich uranium under any agreement. Tehran says it will not agree to this.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, its officials are increasingly threatening to seek a nuclear weapon. Before the June war, Iran was enriching uranium to 60% purity, a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that his country is “ready for any kind of verification.” However, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency has been unable to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile for months.

Trump has indicated in recent weeks that his top priority is to reduce Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has said it wants the talks to focus only on the nuclear programme.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Trump in Washington this week, pushed for any agreement to include steps to neutralize Iran’s ballistic missile program and end its funding of proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.