US, Iran resume nuclear talks as Trump ratchets up war threats

WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran will resume technical talks next week, Oman’s top diplomat said after a third round of indirect nuclear talks ended without a breakthrough in Geneva, leaving uncertainty over whether President Donald Trump will follow through on his threat of military strikes.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is mediating the talks, said that “significant progress” was made after some five hours of negotiations between the two sides. 

“We will resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals. Discussions on a technical level will take place next week in Vienna,” Busaidi said in an X post shortly after the discussions wrapped.

We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran. We will resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals. Discussions on a technical level will take place next week in Vienna. I am grateful to all concerned for…

— Badr Albusaidi - بدر البوسعيدي (@badralbusaidi) February 26, 2026

The talks — led on the US side by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the Iranian side — were widely seen as a last-ditch effort to avert a war that could destabilize the region and put American troops at risk.

If they proceed, the planned technical talks will coincide with a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, which is scheduled to convene in Vienna on Monday.

Araghchi described Thursday’s talks as “intense,” with progress reached on the nuclear file and sanctions relief.

“We are close to an understanding on some issues, though differences remain on others,” Araghchi told reporters in Geneva.  

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Iranian official told Al-Monitor that “the parties have reached some elements of a possible agreement” following Thursday’s negotiations. 

There was no immediate comment from the Trump administration.

The talks come as the US military continues to build up its air and naval presence in the Middle East, deploying two aircraft carriers to provide Trump with potential strike options. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Tehran of resuming work on its nuclear program and developing missiles that could “soon” be capable of reaching the United States. 

“I will never allow the world's top sponsor of terror, which they are by far, have a nuclear weapon; can't let that happen,” Trump said.

The two countries are at odds over whether Iran can continue to maintain some level of uranium enrichment in an arrangement similar to the 2015 deal, which permitted enrichment to 3.67% purity.

Trump has demanded zero enrichment and for Iran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while Tehran has long insisted on its right to pursue what it claims is a peaceful nuclear effort. Prior to the June strikes on its nuclear sites, Iran was enriching uranium to 60% — a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90% and well beyond what’s necessary for civil nuclear energy.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Iran has proposed various measures that stop short of dismantling its nuclear program, such as reducing uranium enrichment from 60% to 1.5%, suspending enrichment for several years or folding it into a regional consortium based in Iran.

Asked about the reports, the senior Iranian official said, “It's very much dependent on the attitude of the US team,” adding, "Iran has entered the negotiations with good faith. If the US shows flexibility on sanctions, we will reciprocate.”

An agreement permitting limited enrichment would inevitably draw comparisons to the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump has long scorned for allowing enrichment at low levels and failing to address Iran’s support for regional proxies and missile program. After he withdrew from the multilateral pact in 2018, Iran responded by gradually violating its commitments. 

Iran’s uranium enrichment was effectively halted as a result of the US bombing of its nuclear facilities in June. However, Tehran has not allowed inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency back into the damaged sites to assess what remains of its prewar stockpile of 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Iran is not currently enriching but said, “They're trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

“After their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it,” Rubio said. “You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it.”

Rubio also described Iran’s refusal to negotiate over its missile program as a “big problem.”

Asked about Trump’s State of the Union assertion that Iran was nearing the ability to directly threaten the United States with missiles, Rubio said, “Clearly they are headed in the pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that could reach the continental US," adding, "And the ranges continue to grow every single year exponentially.”

The top US diplomat on Tuesday gave a classified briefing to the Gang of Eight, which includes the House and Senate leadership from both parties and the top lawmakers on the intelligence committees. Rubio is last known to have briefed the group a day after the US military carried out an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump was scheduled to receive an “intelligence briefing” in the Oval Office at 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday. As the Geneva talks got underway, top House Democrats announced they would force a vote next week on a war powers resolution sponsored by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) aimed at preventing Trump from striking Iran without congressional approval. 

This developing story has been updated since initial publication.