Iran-US hold third round of talks to avoid war
The two countries have resumed talks amid heightened fears of conflict between the United States and Iran in the Middle East. Representatives of Iran and the United States met for the third time in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday. The meeting was held under the mediation of Oman amid repeated threats by US President Donald Trump to attack Iran.
The meeting was held at the residence of the Omani ambassador in Switzerland on Thursday. Representatives of the United States and Iran arrived there one after another under tight security. Confirming the start of talks between the two sides, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi said that Tehran and Washington have shown unprecedented interest in "new and creative plans."
The third round of talks was interrupted for a while. The meeting was held again yesterday. Sources said that the head of the UN Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, participated in the talks. In addition, a journalist from the Iranian state television channel was also there to collect news of the talks.
Before the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted that his country was not in any way moving towards developing nuclear weapons. Tehran has also said that the talks will only focus on Iran's nuclear program. However, Washington wants Iran to reduce its missile program and support for various regional armed groups through the talks.
Western countries, including the United States, accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The United States has imposed various sanctions on Tehran due to this. Negotiations between the United States and Iran began for an agreement on this. However, they were halted when the Iran-Israel conflict broke out last year. After that, Tehran and Washington recently held the first two rounds of talks on this issue in Oman and Geneva.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian delegation in Thursday's talks. He called the talks a "historic opportunity." Araghchi said that the deal is within the control of both sides. And Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and envoy Jared Kushner joined the talks on behalf of the United States. They were also present at the previous two meetings.
Meanwhile, the United States has significantly increased its military presence in the Middle East amid the talks. According to an AFP photographer, the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford left the Greek island of Crete on Thursday for the Mediterranean. Nine warships, including another US warship, are deployed in the Middle East. There are also US fighter jets.
Residents of Tehran fear that a conflict will break out if the talks collapse. One such person, Tayebed, 60, told AFP that if a conflict breaks out, there will be famine and people will suffer a lot. People are already suffering a lot. However, if the conflict escalates, fate could change even more.
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