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Amid fears of military conflict, new round of US-Iran nuclear talks ends

2026-02-26 22:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US and Iranian officials held a new round of nuclear talks, brokered by Oman, in Geneva on Thursday, seen as a last-ditch effort to avert a major military conflict between the two arch-foes.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has a history of mediating between the parties, said he had noted "significant progress" and announced that technical-level discussions would be held in Vienna next week.

"We will resume soon after consultations in the respective capitals... I am grateful to all involved for their efforts: the negotiators, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and our hosts, the Swiss Government ," Busaidi wrote on the X platform.

According to Axios, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who represented the United States in Geneva, expressed "disappointment" with the rhetoric of Iranian officials during the morning session of the meeting.

Neither American nor Iranian officials have spoken publicly since the meetings. The third round of talks came as US President Donald Trump is weighing military action if a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program is not reached.

The US has already deployed two aircraft carriers near the Islamic republic. The sides held indirect talks earlier this month in Oman, the first since Israel and the United States bombed Iran's main nuclear facilities during a brief conflict in June last year. The second round of talks was held in Geneva on February 17.

Both rounds of negotiations have failed to produce progress, and key points of disagreement remain unresolved. During the talks, the US has demanded that Iran completely halt uranium enrichment and give up its stockpile of about 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, steps that would prevent Tehran from producing a nuclear weapon.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes, such as generating electricity. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 25 that Iran is trying to “rebuild elements” of its nuclear program even though it is not currently enriching uranium.

Rubio also said that although the talks will focus on Iran's nuclear program, its missiles "must be addressed during the negotiations," as Tehran has "thousands of short-range ballistic missiles that can reach American bases in the region."

He added that Trump's statements on February 24 during his address to the nation that Iran is "working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America" ??do not mean that they currently possess such weapons, but that they are "clearly on the path to, one day, being able to develop weapons that can reach the US."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on February 26 that the indirect talks would focus solely on Tehran's nuclear program. Baqaei later said that the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, would likely join the talks "to help advance discussions on technical issues."

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on February 26 that American and Iranian officials had shown “unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas and solutions.” Iran has shown it is willing to compromise in exchange for the lifting of American sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

In his address on February 24, Trump appeared to argue for a possible attack on Iran, saying he would not allow the “world’s number one state sponsor of terror” to have nuclear weapons. Trump said Tehran wants to rebuild its nuclear program and that it is “right now pursuing its evil nuclear ambitions once again,” a claim that Tehran has denied.

The negotiations in Geneva come after Trump's repeated threats of military action against Tehran, initially over the brutal suppression of mass protests in January, and later over the country's nuclear program.

World powers reached a nuclear deal with Tehran in 2015 to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear bomb. Western economic sanctions were eased at the time, but Iran began violating commitments after Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 during his first term as president and reimposed sanctions. /REL