Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi headed to Geneva on Sunday for a second round of Iran-U.S. indirect talks, even as relevant parties laid out starkly different visions of what a deal should entail, exposing the fragile foundations of the renewed diplomatic push.
Araghchi is leading a "diplomatic and specialized" delegation to the talks on Tuesday. He is expected to meet Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, and Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, among other officials, according to a ministry statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will lead the American team, according to media reports.
The meeting follows the first round in Oman's Muscat on Feb. 6 that both sides described as a "good start" but yielded no visible breakthrough.
In public statements ahead of the Geneva meeting, Iranian officials struck a tone of conditional openness mixed with defiance. Speaking to BBC on Sunday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled Iran's willingness to compromise on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but drew firm red lines.
He confirmed that Iran could discuss diluting its 60 percent-enriched uranium as the country's proof of flexibility, but flatly ruled out zero enrichment on Iranian soil.
According to Iranian media reports on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei reaffirmed that the country's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy is inherent and inalienable, and no form of pressure or political stance can undermine this right.
He said that Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Meanwhile, signals are similarly mixed from the U.S. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump prefers diplomacy and a negotiated settlement. "No one's ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we're going to try," Rubio said at a news conference in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.
U.S. media reported on Sunday that Trump told Netanyahu as early as December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran's ballistic missile program if a deal cannot be reached.
U.S. military and intelligence officials have also discussed how U.S. could assist Israel in potential operations against Iran's missile infrastructure, including providing aerial refueling for Israeli aircraft and helping secure overflight permissions from related regional countries, said the report.
Netanyahu, for his part, has set a maximalist bar. Speaking at a public conference on Sunday, he insisted that any potential agreement with Iran must include the removal of nuclear material, a halt to uranium enrichment and restrictions on ballistic missiles.
Netanyahu also reiterated his skepticism "about any deal with Iran."
With U.S. warships massing in the region and both sides preparing for the possibility of failure, it is widely believed that the upcoming talks on Tuesday may test whether diplomacy can still offer a path forward, or merely serve as a prelude to deeper confrontation.
Iran's FM heads to Geneva for 2nd round of talks with U.S.
Iran's FM heads to Geneva for 2nd round of talks with U.S.
European countries and international organizations have widely condemned Israeli air strikes on Lebanon which have resulted in more than 1,000 civilian casualties, including children, and have caused damage to civilian infrastructure.
Israel launched large-scale air raids across Lebanon on Wednesday, saying it had carried out 100 strikes within a matter of minutes on positions they claimed belonged to the Hezbollah group.
Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported more than 300 had been killed in the attacks, with roughly 1,150 wounded.
The attacks came after a two-week ceasefire agreement was reached by the United States and Iran. However, both Israel and the United States have maintained Lebanon is not included in the truce.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday accused Israel of violating international law to carry out the air strikes on Lebanon, calling the attacks "a shame on the conscience of all humanity".
Earlier on Thursday, Albares announced that Spain would reopen its embassy in Tehran in the hope of achieving peace in the region.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Israel had "disrespected" the two-week ceasefire with Iran by carrying out the strikes.
Meloni also warned of further economic turmoil if U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran flare up again, and said the European Union should consider a temporary suspension of the Stability and Growth Pact, an agreement which ensures economic stability within the European Union, in order to handle the potential monetary consequences.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday warned that Israel's military operations in Lebanon could cause the entire peace process as a whole to fail, telling a press conference in Berlin "that must not happen."
Merz announced that the German government will resume direct talks with Iran in order to support the newly agreed two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
He also stated that a window of opportunity for a negotiated solution has opened for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict, though he cautioned that the situation in the Middle East remains "fragile."
The UK's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Thursday that she is "deeply troubled" by Israel's escalating attacks on Lebanon, expressing hope that Lebanon will be included in the current ceasefire arrangement.
Cooper also reiterated the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying that the effective closure of the vital shipping chokepoint had been "deeply damaging for the world", while stressing how crucial the passageway is to the entire global economy.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described the Israeli strikes on Lebanon as "intolerable."
In a radio interview, Barrot said France strongly condemns "the massive strikes" which seriously undermine the temporary ceasefire reached earlier between the United States and Iran. The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon, which killed hundreds overnight, could not be considered as an act of self-defense.
"Israel's right to defend itself does not justify inflicting such massive destruction," Kallas said in a post on the social media platform X. She warned that the strikes risk further destabilizing the region and added that Israel's actions were putting the U.S.-Iran ceasefire under severe strain.
Despite this widespread criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Thursday there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon, signaling that Israel will continue its military operations while pursuing planned negotiations with Beirut.
"There is no ceasefire in Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a video address to residents of northern Israel, adding: "We continue to strike Hezbollah with force and we will not stop until we restore your security."
Netanyahu said he had instructed his cabinet to open direct talks with Lebanon following what he described as repeated requests from the Lebanese government.
The negotiations, which are expected to begin next week in Washington, aim to disarm Hezbollah and reach a "historic and lasting" peace agreement, Netanyahu added. Delegations will be led by the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States.
Israel and Lebanon have no formal diplomatic relations and technically remain in a state of war.
European Leaders widely condemn Israeli attacks on Lebanon
