Iran’s FM says deal with US ‘within reach’ if diplomacy ‘given priority’ 

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that a deal with the United States to avert conflict is “within reach”, on the eve of talks between the two countries in Geneva, Switzerland.

Araghchi said that the “historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement” would depend on whether “diplomacy is given priority”, in a possible reference to US President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats to use military force against Iran.

In a statement shared on social media on Tuesday, Iran’s top diplomat added that his country remained “crystal clear” that it would “under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon“, while also recognising the right of Iran’s people to the benefits of “peaceful nuclear technology”.

Indirect talks scheduled for Thursday in Geneva will be the third round of discussions between Washington and Tehran mediated by Oman, which has said it hopes to see “a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal”.

Araghchi has been leading the negotiations on behalf of Iran, while White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been representing the US.

Following the most recent talks in Geneva, Trump said that Tehran had 10 to 15 days to make a “meaningful deal”, while again referring to the possible threat of military intervention amid a huge US military build-up near Iran.

The talks on Thursday will take place as the US Navy has docked its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, at a NATO base on the Greek island of Crete, on its way towards the Middle East, where the US has been increasing its military presence in recent weeks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also been conducting military drills in the south of the country, saying that it has built “a strong fortress” in the area.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said that “the public mood in Iran is a mixture of different sentiments, and oscillation between fear of the war, in terms of the military build-up by the Americans in the region, and hope for diplomacy”.

Asadi said the talks were taking place alongside “public dissatisfaction”, as seen with the “massive protests” that took place across Iran in December, “initially driven by the economic hardship“.

“Right now, we also hear sounds echoing of dissatisfaction in political and social spheres, over the past three days at least, in some major universities in the capital and across the country,” he added.

The US has acknowledged that it caused a shortage of US dollars in Iran, contributing to severe economic consequences, including the collapse of one of Iran’s largest banks in the lead-up to December’s street protests.