Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that a deal with the United States to avert conflict is “within reach”, in advance of talks between the two countries in Geneva, Switzerland, Al Jazeera reports.
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”.
Delivering his State of the Union address in Washington, DC, later on Tuesday evening, Trump again struck a belligerent tone towards Tehran. While saying that he preferred diplomacy, he accused Iran of developing missiles that could “soon reach the United States of America”.
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are, by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen,” Trump said.
Trump said that after the US attack on Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025, “they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons programme, in particular, nuclear weapons – yet they continue”.
“They’re starting it all over. We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again, and are at this moment, again, pursuing their sinister ambitions. We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon’,” he added.
