GENEVA (AP) — Iran and the United States will hold a second round of talks over Tehran's nuclear program next week, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
Iran-Nuclear Talks
Oman, which welcomed the first round ofindirect talkson Feb. 6, will host the talks in Geneva, the Swiss ministry said, without specifying which days.
After the first discussions, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran that failure to reach an agreement with his administration would be "very traumatic."
Similar talks last year broke down in June as Israel launched what became a12-day war on Iranthat included theU.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to agree to constrain its nuclear program. Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own. Trump also has threatened Iran over itsdeadly crackdown on recent nationwide proteststhere.
Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict.
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Trump said Friday the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Mideast to joinother military assetsthe U.S. has built up in the region. He also said a change in power in Iran "would be the best thing that could happen."
Theindirect talks on Feb. 6were between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The top military commander in the Middle Eastwas also presentfor the first time.
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 program is for peaceful purposes. However, its officialsincreasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his nation is "ready for any kind of verification." However, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran's nuclear stockpile.
Trump has suggested in recent weeks that his top priority is for Iran to scale back its nuclear program. Iran has said it wants talks to focus solely on the nuclear program.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Trump in Washington this week, has pressed for any deal to include steps to neutralizeIran's ballistic missile programand end its funding for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
