Iran’s top diplomat left Tehran on Sunday for Geneva, where a second round of nuclear negotiations with the United States is set to take place, Iranian state media reported.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed for the Swiss city along with his delegation following an initial round of indirect talks held in Oman last week. According to Iran’s state-run IRNA, Oman will again serve as mediator during the Geneva discussions.
Similar negotiations last year collapsed after Israel launched a military campaign against Iran that escalated into a 12-day war, during which the United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that force could be used if Iran does not agree to restrict its nuclear programme. Iran has said it would retaliate if attacked. Trump has also threatened Tehran over its violent suppression of nationwide protests.
Gulf Arab nations have cautioned that any military action could trigger a wider regional conflict.
The Trump administration has maintained that Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium under any agreement, a position Tehran has rejected. Iranian officials continue to insist their nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, though they have increasingly warned they could pursue nuclear weapons capability.
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Before the conflict in June, Iran was enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, a level just short of weapons-grade material.
While in Geneva, Araghchi is also expected to meet with his Swiss and Omani counterparts and hold talks with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
Earlier on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remained committed to a diplomatic solution. He said President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were traveling for the upcoming talks.
Trump said on Friday that the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being deployed from the Caribbean to the Middle East to reinforce US military assets in the region. He also said a change in leadership in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”
Rubio said the recent US military deployments were defensive, aimed at protecting American facilities and interests. Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the region if Washington launches an attack. In June, Tehran targeted the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, though no US or Qatari casualties were reported.
Speaking in Bratislava after meeting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Rubio said the US was prioritising diplomacy. “No one has been able to reach a successful deal with Iran, but we are going to try,” he said.
While Trump has recently indicated that reducing Iran’s nuclear programme is his primary goal, Tehran has said the talks should focus solely on nuclear issues.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Trump in Washington earlier this week, has been urging a broader agreement that would also curb Iran’s ballistic missile programme and end its support for proxy groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.