- Tensions rise as second US aircraft carrier heads to the Middle East.
- Iran conducts military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions.
- IAEA urges Iran to account for missing uranium stockpiles.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would participate “indirectly” in high-stakes talks between Iran and the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva, adding that he believed Tehran wanted to reach a deal.
“I will be involved in those conversations, indirectly. And they will be very important,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Tensions are rising ahead of the talks, with the United States deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. The US military is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if talks are unsuccessful, US officials told Reuters.
Asked about the prospects for a deal, Trump said Iran has long sought a tough stance in negotiations, but learned the consequences of that approach last summer when the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump suggested that this time Tehran was motivated to negotiate.
“I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump said.
Washington pressures Tehran to give up enrichment
Before the US attacks in June, nuclear talks between the United States and Iran had stalled over Washington’s demand that Tehran give up enrichment on its territory, which the United States sees as a path to an Iranian nuclear weapon.
“We could have made a deal instead of sending in the B-2s to take out their nuclear potential. And we had to send in the B-2s,” Trump said, referring to the bat-winged American stealth bombers that carried out the bombing raids.
“I hope they are more reasonable.”
The comments contrast with those by the US president on Friday, when he embraced possible regime change in Iran and lamented decades of failed talks.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday and said in a post on X that he was in Geneva to “reach a fair and equitable deal.”
“What is not on the table: submission before threats,” Araqchi said.
Questions about uranium reserves
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been asking Iran for months to say what happened to its stockpile of 440 kg (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium following the Israeli and American attacks and to allow inspections to fully resume, including at three key sites that were bombed in June last year: Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation against any attack, which would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and sharply raise crude prices.
Iran held a military exercise on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway and oil export route for Gulf Arab states, which have been appealing to diplomacy to end the dispute.
Despite Trump’s comments that Iran is seeking a deal, the talks face potential major hurdles.
Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile arsenal.
Tehran says it is only willing to discuss restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and will not accept zero uranium enrichment. He says its missile capabilities are out of the question.
During a visit to Hungary on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it would be difficult to reach an agreement with Tehran.
“I think there is an opportunity here to reach an agreement diplomatically… but I also don’t want to overdo it,” Rubio said.
“It’s going to be difficult. It’s been very difficult for anyone to make real deals with Iran, because we’re dealing with radical Shiite clerics who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones.”
