Iran says agreement with US ‘within reach’ as nuclear talks begin in Geneva – Middle East live

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Looking ahead to the resumption of talks later today, it is worth noting that US president Donald Trump wants Iran to completely halt its enrichment of uranium and roll back both its long-range missile program and its support for regional armed groups.

But Iran says it will only discuss nuclear issues, and maintains its atomic program is for entirely peaceful purposes.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by the Associated Press have shown activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.

The west and the IAEA say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. After Trump scrapped the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60% purity – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

'Creative and positive ideas' exchanged as talks paused, says Oman foreign minister

The US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva have paused and will resume later today, Oman’s foreign minister announced on social media.

Badr Albusaidi, who is mediating the talks, expressed optimism that the negotiations were heading in the right direction.

“We’ve been exchanging creative and positive ideas in Geneva today, and now both US and Iranian negotiators have adjourned for a break. We’ll resume later today. We hope to make more progress,” he posted on X

So far, the indirect negotiations have taken just over three hours.

The nuclear talks explained by an expert

I have been speaking to Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, about the different aspects of the US-Iran negotiations and what they signify.

• The talks have been described as “indirect” – what does that mean and how does it work? Gerges explains:

The three rounds of talks are indirect, not face-to-face, with the Omani foreign minister shuttling between the two delegations. There is a sea of mistrust between the Iranian and American sides and the Iran delegation has avoided direct talks with their US counterpart because they prefer a neutral mediator to do the exchange of messages between them.

Nonetheless, we have evidence that Iran foreign minister [Abbas Araghchi] and [US special envoy] Steve Witkoff met on the sidelines and shook hands and probably talked.

• What is the significance of Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA), joining the talks? Gerges says:

Grossi has the legal authority to make it clear if Iran’s offer to verify its commitment on enrichment matches the UN nuclear agency’s requirements. His presence could be legally decisive by pulling the rug from underneath president Trump’s rationale to carry out an attack on Iran. Of course, this is all theoretical if Trump has made up his mind to attack Iran. We have to wait and see if the white smoke appears in Geneva.

• What is the mood like in Iran in light of these talks? Gerges says:

Lost in all of this reporting frenzy in the west about the question of war and peace is the plight of the everyday Iranian people. Trump and European leaders talk about Iran as if the Iranian people are a sideshow. Iranians are pressed between the rock of a repressive regime and the hard place of a potential American war that could be devastating in terms of human loss and social and economic turmoil and even civil strife. While Trump and leaders profess to support the plight of Iranians, their very actions could bring more hardship and ruin.

By overlooking the hopes, fears and aspirations of Iranians, US actions might produce the opposite results of their intended consequences. Sadly, this has been a systemic pattern of US foreign policy towards the Middle East, from overthrowing Mohammed Mossadegh in August 1953 to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in March 2003.

A man walks near an anti-US billboard in Tehran. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

Here are some images from the newswires from Geneva this morning, showing the US and Iranian delegations arriving at the talks and the large police presence in the area.

Police officers stand guard at the Oman ambassador's residency in Geneva, where the indirect nuclear talks between the US and Iran are taking place. Photograph: Martial Trezzini/EPA

The US delegation arrives at the talks. Photograph: Martial Trezzini/AP

Police officers stand guard near the residence of the Omani ambassador to the UN, in Cologny, near Geneva. Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters

A car carrying the Iranian delegation drives near the residence of the Omani ambassador to the UN, believed to be the venue for the talks. Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters

'Immediate agreement within reach', says Iranian adviser

Ali Shamkhani, a prominent adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has suggested that an agreement can be reached if the negotiations focused solely on Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons.

“If the main issue of the negotiations is preventing Iran from producing nuclear weapons, this would be in line with the supreme leader’s fatwa (religious edict) and Iran’s defence doctrine, and an immediate agreement is within reach,” he posted on X.

He added that the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the talks for Tehran, has “sufficient support and authority to secure this agreement”.

While we wait for more updates on the US-Iran talks, over in Jordan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in Amman where they visited the World Central Kitchen Food (WCK) hub coordinating food relief for Gaza.

Harry and Meghan, who stepped down as working royals in 2020, arrived in Jordan yesterday for a two-day trip to spotlight organisations that help people affected by war and displacement, the PA news agency reported. They visited a refugee camp for thousands of displaced Syrians and met with children from Gaza being treated at a hospital in Amman as part of their trip.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during a visit to the World Central Kitchen Food (WCK) hub in Amman, Jordan. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has joined the talks and is the “technical observer” of the negotiations.

As our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour reports here, for Iran, the presence of Grossi at the Geneva talks along with mediators from Oman is regarded as significant, since Grossi has the legal authority to state if he thinks any access offered by Iran to verify its commitments on enrichment matches the inspectorate’s needs.

What to know

• The nuclear talks today are the third between the US and Iran since June 2025, when the US joined Israel’s war against Iran and bombed its nuclear and military sites. It effectively ended the US-Iran talks that were held in the weeks prior to the conflict aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement.

• As before, the negotiations are being mediated by Oman, which has maintained a policy of neutrality and assumed the role of mediator both within the Arabian peninsula and more broadly across the Middle East. The country lies in the centre of tensions between the US and Iran and is directly vulnerable to maritime instability and regional escalation.

• If the talks fail, there is uncertainty over what the US may do regarding a possible military attack against Iran, and when it might act. Questions remain over what this could mean for the wider region, with Iran warning it would retaliate and even attack Israel.

Negotiators showing 'unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas', says Oman

The state-run Oman News Agency has posted photos on social media showing the Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi sat with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva.

Oman's foreign minister Badr Albusaidi (right) holds a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Photograph: AP

The accompanying message struck a positive tone, saying:

[They] reviewed the Iranian side’s views and proposals, as well as the responses and inquiries of the US negotiating team, related to addressing the main elements of Iran’s nuclear programme and the necessary guarantees to achieve the desired agreement on this important issue in all its technical and monitoring aspects.

[Albusaidi] stated: Efforts are continuing diligently and constructively, with the negotiators demonstrating unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas and solutions, and creating a supportive environment for progress and reaching a fair agreement with sustainable guarantees.

An Iranian agreement on a suspension of uranium enrichment is not unprecedented. In 2003 the then secretary of the supreme national security council, Hassan Rouhani, agreed with France, Germany and the UK to suspend all uranium enrichment and processing activities and to allow snap inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog.

The Iranian negotiating team who are being asked to present specific proposals at the Geneva talks will seek irreversible sanctions relief such as the release of frozen Iranian assets held abroad.

Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said the talks will solely focus “on the nuclear issue”, according to the AFP news agency.

He added that Iran will push for the lifting of sanctions and assert Tehran’s right “to peaceful use of nuclear energy”.

He said these terms were relayed to the Omani foreign minister mediating the talks.

Countries advising against travel to Iran

The Reuters news agency has compiled a list of countries that have pulled diplomatic staff and non-essential workers from some locations in the Middle East or have warned citizens to avoid travelling to Iran amid mounting tensions between Washington and Tehran.

They include: the US, Germany, Finland, Australia, Sweden, Poland, Serbia, Cyrpus, India, Brazil and Singapore.

For more details on the travel warnings, click here:

Third round of US-Iran nuclear talks begin in Geneva

The third round of US-Iran nuclear talks have begun in Geneva, according to Iranian state media.

Omani mediators will once again sit across from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Araghchi met Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi after arriving in Geneva last night. The ministers “reviewed the views and proposals that the Iranian side will present to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme, based on the guiding principles agreed upon in the previous round of negotiations”, a report from the state-run Oman News Agency said. Albusaidi will pass on Iran’s offer to US officials today, the news agency added.

It is understood that US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is heading to Geneva for the talks along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has asked only that Iran agree to enrichment at below 5% purity, roughly the level it accepted in the 2015 nuclear deal and well below weapons grade.

A source in contact with Iran’s negotiation team said members were surprised at the lax terms of the proposal submitted last week by Kushner and Witkoff as a first step. The key request, this source said, was that Iran agree to limit enrichment to 5% and convert the programme to civilian use.

But, in turn, the source said there were no offers of immediate sanctions relief or diplomatic ties: Iran would be left in economic handcuffs. Still, the next step, the source said, would be negotiations to gradually relieve sanctions and opening dialogue.

UN nuclear watchdog chief to join talks, Iran says

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will probably attend the talks, Iranian media has reported, citing a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry.

Grossi had attended the second round of US-Iran talks earlier this month, where he met directly with Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. The meeting was a significant step after Iran suspended all cooperation with the IAEA after the 12-day war with Israel in June.

The UN nuclear watchdog agency said it has been unable to verify the status of Iran’s near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since the war. Iran has allowed the IAEA some access to sites that were not damaged, but has not allowed inspectors to visit other sites.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s minister of foreign affairs, met with the Omani foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, in Geneva last night. Albusaidi is expected to meet with the US negotiating team this morning

Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi and Iran’s Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Wednesday. Photograph: Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA/Reuters

Aragchi and Albusaidi meet ahead of a third round of talks taking place in Geneva between US and Iranian negotiators. Photograph: Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA/Reuters

Opening summary

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the US-Iran talks.

Iran and US negotiators will be meeting in the Swiss city of Geneva today for a third round of indirect nuclear talks. The Oman-mediated discussions will take place amid a massive buildup of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East to pressure Iran into a deal.

This is the third meeting between the US and Iran since June last year, when Israel launched attacks on Iran that sparked a war marked by tit-for-tat airstrikes.

Ahead of today’s talks, the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has banned weapons ⁠of mass destruction, which “clearly means ⁠Tehran won’t develop nuclear weapons”. Khamenaei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, is thought to have issued a fatwa – or religious edict – banning the Iranian use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, some time before or in 2005.

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, US president Donald Trump accused Iran of seeking to rebuild its nuclear weapons programme, but gave no clear indication of his intentions regarding a possible military strike against Tehran. He did, however, say he wanted to resolve tensions diplomatically.

Iran has maintained that it will continue to enrich uranium, a component of a nuclear weapon, for peaceful purposes and has long argued that uranium enrichment is a sovereign right.

Iran has threatened to retaliate in kind if the US were to launch a strike, and said that it would also attack Israel.

“There would be no victory for anybody – it would be a devastating war,” Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today before he flew to Geneva.

You can read our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour’s preview of the talks here: