<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that a deal with the United States to avert conflict is \u201cwithin reach\u201d, in advance of talks between the two countries in Geneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>Araghchi said that the \u201chistoric opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement\u201d would depend on whether \u201cdiplomacy is given priority\u201d, in a possible reference to US President Donald Trump\u2019s ongoing threats to use military force against Iran.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>In a statement shared on social media on Tuesday,\u00a0Iran\u2019s top diplomat added that his country remained \u201ccrystal clear\u201d that it would \u201cunder no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon\u201c, while also recognising the right of Iran\u2019s people to the benefits of \u201cpeaceful nuclear technology\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Indirect talks scheduled for Thursday in Geneva will be the third round of discussions between Washington and Tehran, mediated by Oman, which has said it hopes to see \u201ca positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Delivering his State of the Union address in Washington, DC, later on Tuesday evening, Trump again struck a belligerent tone towards Tehran. While saying that he preferred diplomacy, he accused Iran of developing missiles that could \u201csoon reach the United States of America\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world\u2019s number one sponsor of terror, which they are, by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can\u2019t let that happen,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump said that after the US attack on Iran\u2019s nuclear sites in June 2025, \u201cthey were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons programme, in particular, nuclear weapons \u2013 yet they continue\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re starting it all over. We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again, and are at this moment, again, pursuing their sinister ambitions. We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven\u2019t heard those secret words: \u2018We will never have a nuclear weapon\u2019,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"strong-fortress\">\u2018Strong fortress\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Araghchi has been leading the negotiations on behalf of Iran, while White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been representing the US.<\/p>\n<p>Following the most recent talks in Geneva, Trump said that Tehran had 10 to 15 days to make a \u201cmeaningful deal\u201d, while again referring to the possible threat of military intervention amid a huge US military build-up near Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The talks on Thursday will take place as the US Navy has docked its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, at a NATO base on the Greek island of Crete, on its way towards the Middle East, where the US has been increasing its military presence in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also been conducting military drills in the south of the country, saying that it has built \u201ca strong fortress\u201d in the area.<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said that \u201cthe public mood in Iran is a mixture of different sentiments, and oscillation between fear of the war, in terms of the military build-up by the Americans in the region, and hope for diplomacy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Asadi said the talks were taking place alongside \u201cpublic dissatisfaction\u201d, as seen with the \u201cmassive protests\u201d that took place across Iran in December, \u201cinitially driven by the economic hardship\u201c.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, we also hear sounds echoing of dissatisfaction in political and social spheres, over the past three days at least, in some major universities in the capital and across the country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The US has acknowledged that it caused a shortage of US dollars in Iran, contributing to severe economic consequences, including the collapse of one of Iran\u2019s largest banks in the lead-up to December\u2019s street protests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi\u2019s remarks in advance of Geneva talks come as a second US aircraft carrier heads towards the Middle East. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that a deal with the United States to avert conflict is \u201cwithin reach\u201d, in advance of talks between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}