Tel Aviv [Israel], February 26 : Iran's foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Geneva for the third round of high-stakes negotiations with the United States, as US envoy Steve Witkoff insisted that any agreement concerning Tehran's nuclear activities must be permanent.
An aircraft carrying Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi touched down in Geneva on Wednesday (local time) evening ahead of the negotiations scheduled for Thursday. Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are heading the US delegation.
The discussions over Iran's nuclear program come amid escalating tensions, with US President Donald Trump warning of possible military action if Tehran refuses to reach a deal. Washington has reinforced its military presence in the Middle East, while Iranian officials have vowed to target Israel and US interests if the United States launches an attack.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio underlined that President Trump is still hopefull of a diplomatic outcome.
"They are trying to achieve intercontinental ballistic missiles. For example, you've seen them try to launch satellites into space. They are headed on a pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that could reach the continental US. They already possess weapons that could reach much of Europe, already now as we speak," he said
"The negotiations tomorrow and the talks tomorrow will be largely focused on the nuclear program, and we hope that progress can be made because that's the president's preference, to make progress on the diplomatic front," he added.
Adding to the stern US posture, Vice President J D Vance said Washington has seen evidence suggesting Iran is attempting to rebuild its nuclear weapons program following earlier strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. "The principle is very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. In fact, we've seen evidence that they have tried to do exactly that," Vance told reporters.
Earlier, a report in the Times of Israel suggested that Senior Advisers within the United States Administration have argued in favour of a pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran before any direct US military action.
The newspaper also reported that around a dozen US Air Force F-22 fighters have landed in Israel. The stealth fighters were spotted taking off from the Lakenheath airbase in the United Kingdom on February 24 morning before they flew to Israel, the Israeli daily said citing open-source flight tracking data and aircraft spotters.