US, Iran Hold 3rd Round of Nuke Talks  02/26 06:08

   Iran and the United States began indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over 
Tehran's nuclear negotiations viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America 
has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure 
Tehran into a deal.

   GENEVA (AP) -- Iran and the United States began indirect talks Thursday in 
Geneva over Tehran's nuclear negotiations viewed as a last chance for diplomacy 
as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to 
pressure Tehran into a deal.

   U.S. President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran's nuclear 
program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home 
with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month. Iran meanwhile 
has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits 
in ruins, following Trump ordering an attack in June on three of the Islamic 
Republic's nuclear sites, part of a bruising 12-day war last year.

   If an American attack happens, Iran has said all U.S. military bases in the 
Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of 
thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack 
Israel, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.

   "There would be no victory for anybody -- it would be a devastating war," 
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed 
Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva.

   "Since the Americans' bases are scattered through different places in the 
region, then unfortunately perhaps the whole region would be engaged and be 
involved, so it is a very terrible scenario."

   Geneva talks are the third meeting since June war

   Araghchi again is passing messages to Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real 
estate developer and friend of Trump who serves as a special Mideast envoy for 
the president. The two men held multiple rounds of talks last year that 
collapsed after Israel launched its war against Iran in June. These latest 
talks are again being mediated by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the 
Arabian Peninsula that's long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the 
West.

   Araghchi met Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi after arriving in 
Geneva on Wednesday night. The men "reviewed the views and proposals that the 
Iranian side will present to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, 
based on the guiding principles agreed upon in the previous round of 
negotiations," a report from the state-run Oman News Agency said. Al-Busaidi 
will pass on Iran's offer to American officials on Thursday, it added.

   An Associated Press journalist saw al-Busaidi after he met with the 
director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' 
nuclear watchdog. The Omani diplomat flashed a thumbs up to a question about 
whether he was hopeful for the talks.

   Al-Busaidi returned Thursday to the Omani diplomatic residence on the shores 
of Lake Geneva . A convoy believed to be carrying American diplomats later 
arrived to the compound, followed by another believed to be carrying Iranian 
diplomats. Oman later published images of Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's 
son-in-law, meeting with al-Busaidi at the residence, signaling the start of 
the talks.

   In this round of negotiations after the June war, Trump has pushed to halt 
Iran's enrichment of uranium entirely, as well as address Tehran's ballistic 
missile program and its support of regional militant forces. Iran has 
maintained the talks must remain focused only on nuclear issues.

   U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday that Iran is 
"always trying to rebuild elements" of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran 
is not enriching uranium right now, "but they're trying to get to the point 
where they ultimately can."

   Iran has said it hasn't enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA 
inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by 
The Associated Press also has shown activity at two of those sites, suggesting 
Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.

   The West and the IAEA say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. 
Before the June attack, it had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity -- a 
short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

   U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to restart a weapons 
program, but has "undertaken activities that better position it to produce a 
nuclear device, if it chooses to do so." While insisting its program is 
peaceful, Iranian officials have threatened to pursue the bomb in recent years.

   "The principle's very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," U.S. Vice 
President JD Vance told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

   Vance said Trump is "sending those negotiators to try to address that 
problem" and "wants to address that problem diplomatically."

   "But, of course, the president has other options as well," Vance added.

   Threat of military action sparks war fears

   If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible attack.

   If the aim of potential military action is to pressure Iran to make 
concessions in nuclear negotiations, it's not clear whether limited strikes 
would work. If the goal is to remove Iran's leaders, that will likely commit 
the U.S. to a larger, longer military campaign. There has been no public sign 
of planning for what would come next, including the potential for chaos in Iran.

   There is also uncertainty about what any military action could mean for the 
wider region. Tehran could retaliate against the American-allied nations of the 
Persian Gulf or Israel. Oil prices have risen in recent days in part due to 
those concerns, with benchmark Brent crude now about $70 a barrel. Iran in the 
last round of talks said it briefly halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the 
narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.

   Satellite photos shot Tuesday and Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed 
by the AP appeared to show that American vessels typically docked in Bahrain, 
the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, were all out at sea. The 5th Fleet 
referred questions to the U.S. military's Central Command, which declined to 
comment. Before Iran's attack on Qatar in June, the 5th Fleet similarly 
scattered its ships at sea to protect against a potential attack.