The US and Iran are set to meet in Geneva on Thursday for the third round of nuclear talks this month, amid increasing American military build-up in the Middle East and Donald Trump’s repeated declarations that he will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
US-Iran nuclear talks
For Thursday’s talks in Geneva, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to participate, alongside Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, as per a reuters report that cited a US official.
Meanwhile, Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi will step back into his shoes as mediator.
Rafael Grossi, the chief of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will also be in the Swiss city to hold talks with both delegations.
Trump’s case for military action
A day ago, US President Trump laid out his case for a military attack on Iran in the longest-ever State of the Union address, reiterating that he would not allow Tehran to possess nuclear weapons.
“We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said in his speech, adding, “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.'”
While the US President said his “preference” was to “solve this problem through diplomacy,” he added, “One thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump’s comments were backed by Vice President JD Vance, who, in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday said, “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. That would be the ultimate military objective, if that’s the route that. [Trump] chose.”
Earlier, on 19 February, Trump had warned that “really bad things would happen” if Iran failed to make a deal in 10-15 days’ time.
Biggest US military build-up since 2003
Thursday’s talks between Washington and Tehran come amid a massive US military build-up in the Middle East, its biggest military deployments in the region since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Since late January, a carrier strike group centered around the USS Abraham Lincoln has been stationed in the region, and the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, has been dispatched to the Gulf.
Trump, in his second term, has already attacked Iran once, striking three nuclear sites in June last year, and there are growing fears of present tensions escalating into a regional conflict.
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