Iran says progress made in nuclear talks with U.S. after partial closure of Strait of Hormuz

Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main “guiding principles” in a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva ‌on Tuesday, but work still needs to be done, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

“Different ideas have been presented, these ideas have been seriously discussed. Ultimately, we’ve been able to reach a general agreement on some guiding principles — from now on, we will move based on those principles and enter the text of a potential agreement,” Araghchi told Iranian media after the talks concluded in Geneva.

After the exchange of documents, the two sides will decide on a date for a third round of negotiations, he said.

The U.S. has sent a battle force to the Middle East to press Tehran to make concessions in the decades-long nuclear dispute and President Donald Trump has said “regime change” in Tehran may be the best thing that can happen.

Iranian state media reported earlier that Iran would temporarily shut part of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital ​global oil supply route, as it held talks over ⁠its nuclear program with ⁠the United States, which ‌has sent a battle force to the Gulf region to press Tehran to make concessions.

Oil futures fell and the price of the benchmark Brent crude contract fell more than one per cent after Araghchi’s comments eased some tension over imminent supply disruption.

Speaking at a disarmament conference in Geneva after the talks, Araghchi said that a “new window of opportunity” had opened and that he hoped talks would lead to a “sustainable” solution that ensured the full recognition of Iran’s legitimate rights.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in the Geneva talks, which were being mediated by Oman, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. 

The White House did not respond to emailed questions about the meeting.

Earlier, Trump said that he would be involved “indirectly” in the Geneva talks and that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal.

“I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday. “We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s in to knock out their nuclear potential. And we had to send the B-2s.”

The U.S. joined Israel last June in bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.

Even the strongest can be ‘slapped’: Khamenei

Since the June strikes, Iran’s Islamic rulers have been weakened by street protests, put down at a cost of thousands of lives, against a cost-of-living crisis driven in part by international sanctions that have strangled Iran’s oil income.

Just after the talks started, Iranian media cited 86-year-old Khamenei as saying Washington could not force out his government. The republic has been ruled by clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“The U.S. president says their army is the world’s strongest, but the strongest army in the world can sometimes be slapped so hard it cannot get up,” he said in comments published by Iranian media.

Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile stockpile. Tehran says it is willing only to discuss curbs on its nuclear program — in exchange for sanctions relief — and that it will not give up uranium enrichment completely or discuss its missile program.

Khamenei reiterated Iran’s position that its formidable missile stockpile is non-negotiable and that their type and range have nothing to do with the United States.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday the success of the Geneva talks hinged on the U.S. not making unrealistic demands and on its seriousness on lifting the crippling sanctions on Iran.

U.S. B-2 bombers strike nuclear targets

Tehran and Washington were scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks in June last year when Washington’s ally Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, and was then joined by U.S. B-2 bombers that struck nuclear targets. Tehran has since said it has halted uranium enrichment activity.

Tuesday’s meeting took place at the residence of the Omani ambassador to the United Nations amid a heavy security presence. Some cars with Iranian diplomatic licence plates were visible outside.

The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of weeks of operations against Iran if Trump orders an attack, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The U.S. and Israel believe Iran aspires to build a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel’s existence. Iran says its nuclear program is purely peaceful, even though it has enriched uranium far beyond the purity needed for power generation, and close to what is required for a bomb.

Iran has joined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forgo atomic weapons and co-operate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Israel, which has not signed the NPT, neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weapons, under a decades-old ambiguity policy designed to deter surrounding enemies. Scholars believe it does.