Iran’s FM Departs for Geneva to Join Nuclear Talks with U.S.

(MENAFN) Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi departed Sunday for Geneva to participate in a second round of indirect nuclear negotiations with Washington, the Foreign Ministry announced.

Tuesday's discussions will proceed through Omani mediation, the ministry stated.

Araghchi is heading what the ministry characterized as a "diplomatic and specialized" delegation. His itinerary includes meetings with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, alongside other senior officials.

Iranian and American negotiators, headed by Araghchi and President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, conducted initial discussions in Muscat on Feb. 6. Witkoff will once more represent Washington in Geneva, U.S. media reports confirmed.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi indicated Tehran's readiness to negotiate nuclear program limitations for sanctions removal. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, he declared the ball was "in America's court to prove that they want to do a deal."

Iranian media quoting a senior diplomat, disclosed that the Muscat sessions addressed prospective economic partnerships spanning oil, gas, mining sectors, plus aircraft acquisitions.

Hamid Ghanbari, a deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy serving on Iran's negotiating team, confirmed talks encompassed collaborative energy and mining ventures and potential procurement of U.S.-manufactured aircraft. Any pact, he emphasized, must guarantee Iran's overseas frozen assets become available in a "real and usable" format, media reported.

Ghanbari stressed Tehran pursues a "serious agreement" but would reject zero uranium enrichment—a persistent negotiation deadlock. Washington considers enrichment within Iran a nuclear weapons pathway, charges Tehran refutes.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump favors diplomatic resolution. "No one's ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we're going to try," Rubio told reporters at a Bratislava press conference.

In 2018, Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear pact that lifted Iranian sanctions for atomic program restrictions, reinstating comprehensive economic measures.

Meanwhile, Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, cautioned Sunday that military conflict would bring repercussions for America. In comments carried by an Iranian news agency, he condemned what he termed Trump's recent provocations.

"If Trump seeks war with Iran, why does he speak of negotiation?" Mousavi questioned, warning engagement would "teach him a lesson" and terminate his "blustering."

Friday saw Trump announce the USS Gerald R. Ford—the globe's largest aircraft carrier—had received deployment orders to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers already positioned regionally.

He acknowledged weighing military alternatives should diplomacy collapse.

"I'll talk to them as long as I like, and we'll see if we can get a deal," Trump told reporters Thursday. "And if we can't, we'll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them."

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