The United States and Iran are set to hold indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday, 26th February aiming to avert fresh conflict after weeks of escalating threats and a major U.S. military build-up in the region.
The negotiations come after President Donald Trump repeatedly warned that Washington could strike Iran if a deal is not reached. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Tehran of “pursuing sinister nuclear ambitions,” while claiming Iran had
already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.
Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed those allegations as “big lies.” Tehran has publicly stated that the maximum range of its missiles is 2,000 kilometres, while the U.S. Congressional Research Service estimates they reach about 3,000 kilometres—still less than a third of the distance to the continental United States.
The long-running dispute centres primarily on Iran’s nuclear programme. Western governments believe it is aimed at building an atomic bomb, an accusation Tehran denies, insisting the programme is peaceful.
U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio called Tehran’s refusal to discuss ballistic weapons “a big, big problem,” although he added that
the president wants diplomatic solutions.
Ahead of the talks, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons. Referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said: “We will not have nuclear weapons at all,” adding that even if he wanted to pursue them, he would not be permitted “from a doctrinal standpoint.”
