President Donald Trump said he will be involved “indirectly” in nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran in Geneva, as both sides resume diplomacy against a backdrop of military pressure and deep mistrust.
Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One on Monday (16 February), Trump described the upcoming round of negotiations as significant and suggested Tehran is motivated to reach an agreement.
“I'll be involved in those talks, indirectly. And they'll be very important,” he said. "I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal. They want to make a deal."
The meeting will take place at the Embassy of Oman in Geneva under Omani mediation with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushnerare taking part in the negotiations.
It follows an earlier round of indirect discussions in Muscat on 6 February, which both sides characterised as constructive. Those contacts marked the resumption of diplomacy after negotiations were suspended in 2025 following Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that escalated into a 12-day conflict.
Just after the talks started, Iranian media cited Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying Washington could not force out his government. The republic has been ruled by clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"The U.S. President says their army is the world's strongest, but the strongest army in the world can sometimes be slapped so hard it cannot get up," he said, in comments published by Iranian media.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday the success of the Geneva talks hinged on the U.S. not making unrealistic demands and on its seriousness on lifting crippling economic sanctions on Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Geneva on Monday ahead of the second round, saying he was seeking “a fair and equitable deal.”
“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” Araghchi wrote on X. “What is not on the table: submission before threats.”
Araghchi also met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi, describing expectations of a “deep technical discussion.” The IAEA has called on Iran to clarify the status of approximately 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and to restore full access to facilities including Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan that were struck during last year’s conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Washington’s position had moved “towards a more realistic one” and indicated the IAEA would play an important role in the mediated talks, while criticising Grossi for not condemning the strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
In an interview with the BBC in Tehran, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said responsibility now lay with Washington.
“The ball is in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal,” he said. “If they are sincere, I'm sure we will be on the road to an agreement.”
Takht-Ravanchi confirmed that the Muscat discussions had been “more or less in a positive direction but it is too early to judge.” Trump has also described those earlier talks as positive.
He pointed to Tehran’s proposal to dilute uranium enriched to 60% purity as evidence of willingness to compromise.
Uranium enriched to that level is close to weapons-grade, raising Western concerns, although Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon.
“We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our programme if they are ready to talk about sanctions,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC.
Asked whether Iran would agree to transfer its stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium abroad, he said it was “too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations.”
The diplomatic effort unfolds amid a significant U.S. military buildup in the region. Trump has threatened military strikes if Iran does not agree to curb its nuclear programme and on Friday voiced support for regime change, calling it the “best thing” for Iran.
The Pentagon has increased its naval presence in the Middle East, including deploying an additional aircraft carrier and accompanying warships, while officials have indicated contingency planning is underway should talks fail.
On Monday, a day before the Geneva round was set to begin, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy conducted live exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. The drills were described as addressing “potential security and military threats.”
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow but strategically vital waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and serves as a key shipping lane for global oil and gas supplies. Analysts have said the exercises appear intended to signal Iran’s ability to disrupt maritime traffic if tensions escalate.
Tehran has repeatedly warned it could close the strait in response to an attack.
At the centre of the negotiations remains uranium enrichment. Washington has demanded that Iran cease enrichment on its territory and transfer its highly enriched uranium abroad. The United States has also sought to broaden the scope of talks to include Iran’s ballistic missile programme and regional activities.
Tehran maintains it will negotiate only restrictions on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and has ruled out discussing missile capabilities. Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected ending enrichment entirely.
Speaking during a visit to Hungary on Monday (16 February), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said diplomacy should be pursued but warned that reaching an agreement would be challenging.
“I think that there’s an opportunity here to diplomatically reach an agreement that addresses the things we’re concerned about. We’ll be very open and welcoming to that. But I don’t want to overstate it either,” Rubio said at a press conference in Budapest.
“It’s going to be hard. It’s been very difficult for anyone to do real deals with Iran, because we’re dealing with radical Shia clerics who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones,” he added, saying that no one has ever made a deal with Iran and that the United States is trying to do so.
The Geneva round is widely seen as a critical test of whether renewed indirect engagement can narrow long-standing differences between Washington and Tehran or whether tensions will intensify further.
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