GENEVA: Iran's top diplomat met with the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Monday, ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said he would also meet with Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi of Oman, which is hosting the US-Iran talks in Geneva on Tuesday.
“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” Araghchi wrote on X. “What is not on the table: submission before threats.”
As US President Donald Trump ordered an additional aircraft carrier to the region, Iran on Monday launched a second naval drill in weeks, state TV reported. It said the drill would test Iran's intelligence and operational capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Just before the talks, Iran announced its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard started the drill early Monday morning in the waterways that are crucial international trade routes through which 20 per cent of the world's oil passes.
Separately, EOS Risk Group said sailors passing through the region received by radio a warning that the northern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian territorial waters, likely would see a live-fire drill Tuesday. Iranian state TV did not mention the live fire drill.
This is the second time in recent weeks sailors have received warning about an Iranian live fire drill. During the previous exercise, announced at the end of January, the US military's Central Command issued a strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guard. While acknowledging Iran's “right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters,” it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels.
On February 4, tensions between the Iranian and US navies rose further after a US Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Iran also harassed a US-flagged and US-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military reported.
On Sunday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled that Tehran could be open to compromise on the nuclear issue, but is looking for an easing of international sanctions led by the United States.
“The ball is in America's court. They have to prove they want to have a deal with us,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC. “If we see a sincerity on their part, I am sure that we will be on a road to have an agreement."
"We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our programme provided that they are also ready to talk about the sanctions,” he added.
Oman hosted a first round of indirect talks between the US and Iran on Feb. 6.
Similar talks last year between the US and Iran about Iran's nuclear program broke down after Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran, that included the US bombing Iranian nuclear sites.
The US is also hosting talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the all-out Russian invasion of its neighbour.
Trump initially threatened to take military action over Iran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month, but then shifted to a pressure campaign in recent weeks to try to get Tehran to make a deal over its nuclear programme.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Budapest, reiterated on Monday that the US hopes to achieve a deal with Iran, despite the difficulties. “I'm not going to prejudge these talks,” Rubio said. “The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things.”
Trump said Friday the USS Gerald R Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Mideast to join other military assets the US has built up in the region. He also said a change in power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.”
Iran has said if the US attacks, it will respond with an attack of its own.
The Trump administration has maintained that Iran can have no uranium enrichment under any deal. Tehran says it won't agree to that.
Iran has insisted its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.
The direct meeting with Grossi is a significant step after Iran suspended all cooperation with the IAEA following the June war with Israel. The two also met briefly on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September. The IAEA said it has been unable to verify the status of Iran's near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since the war. Iran has allowed IAEA some access to sites that were not damaged, but has not allowed inspectors to visit other sites.
Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 per cent could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponise its programme, Grossi previously told The Associated Press. He added that it doesn't mean that Iran has such a weapon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to Washington last week to urge Trump to ensure that any deal to include steps to neutralise Iran's ballistic missile programme and end its funding for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.