Developing: U.S. and Iran Open Critical Third Round of Nuclear Talks in Geneva as Military Buildup Reaches Historic Levels
American and Iranian negotiators sat down Thursday for a third round of indirect talks in Geneva, with the shadow of the largest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq looming over every exchange. The discussions, brokered by Oman and held at the Omani ambassador's residence, represent what analysts on all sides describe as a pivotal moment: either a diplomatic breakthrough that defuses a nuclear standoff decades in the making, or a potential slide toward open military conflict between Washington and Tehran. President Donald Trump, who used his State of the Union address on Tuesday to declare that he would "never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon," has given Iran a roughly 10-to-15-day window — first outlined on February 19 — to agree to what he has called a "meaningful deal." That timeline places the effective deadline in early March. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, leading Tehran's delegation, vowed on the eve of the talks that Iran would "under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon" and said a "fair, balanced and equitable deal" was "within reach." The stakes extend far beyond the negotiating table. Two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups, 14 major warships armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, and 12 F-22 Raptor stealth fighters deployed to southern Israel now constitute the most formidable American naval and air presence the region has seen in over two decades. Iran, meanwhile, has conducted live missile tests in the Strait of Hormuz and warned that any U.S. attack would be met with strikes on American military installations across the Middle East.