Iran upbeat after US talks but Vance says 'red lines' not met

By Robin MILLARD
Geneva (AFP) Feb 17, 2026
Iran said Tuesday it had agreed with the United States in talks in Geneva on "guiding principles" for a deal to avoid conflict, but Vice President JD Vance said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's red lines.

The Omani-mediated talks were aimed at averting the possibility of US military intervention to curb Iran's nuclear programme, weeks after the cleric-run state killed thousands of people as it crushed mass demonstrations.

Iran's supreme leader had warned earlier in the day that the country had the ability to sink a US warship recently deployed to the region, after President Donald Trump alluded to "consequences" should the two sides fail to strike a deal.

"Ultimately, we were able to reach broad agreement on a set of guiding principles, based on which we will move forward and begin working on the text of a potential agreement," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television after Tuesday's talks, which he described as "more constructive" than the previous round earlier this month.

He added that once both sides had come up with draft texts for an agreement, "the drafts would be exchanged and a date for a third round (of talks) would be set".

In Washington, Vance also appeared to indicate that the United States preferred diplomacy but painted a more mixed picture.

"In some ways, it went well; they agreed to meet afterwards," Vance said in a Fox News interview.

"But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through," Vance told "The Story with Martha MacCallum" program.

"We're going to keep on working it. But of course, the president reserves the ability to say when he thinks that diplomacy has reached its natural end," Vance said.

- Key gaps -

Araghchi also acknowledged that it "will take time to narrow" the gap between the countries after the talks with Trump's friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Iran for years has been seeking relief from sweeping sanctions imposed by the United States, including a US-imposed ban on other countries buying its oil.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the two sides had made "good progress", but likewise cautioned "much work is left to be done".

Washington has ordered two aircraft carriers to the region as it piles on pressure. The first -- the USS Abraham Lincoln, with nearly 80 aircraft -- was positioned about 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, satellite images showed.

Its location puts at least a dozen US F?35s and F?18 fighter jets within striking distance. A second carrier was dispatched over the weekend.

"A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it," Khamenei said in a speech Tuesday.

Iran has insisted the talks be limited to the nuclear issue, though Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed, including Tehran's ballistic missiles programme and support for armed groups in the region.

- War games -

Iran has also sought to display its military might, with its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps beginning a series of war games Monday in the Strait of Hormuz to prepare for "potential security and military threats", state television said.

Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a strategic route for oil and gas.

A previous attempt at diplomacy collapsed last year when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran in June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.

The West fears Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated in an interview published Tuesday that Tehran was "absolutely not seeking nuclear weapons".

"If anyone wants to verify this, we are open to such verification to take place," he said.

Ali Fathollah-Nejad, director of the Berlin-based Centre for Middle East and Global Order, said Iran was faced with an "existential dilemma".

"Giving in to US demands could bring sanctions relief that it would desperately need to stabilise the regime and fund its repressive apparatus," he told AFP.

"However, any significant concessions on the nuclear, ballistic missile and regional proxies issues would sensitively undermine its ideological and military standing."

Iran, Ukraine talks spark diplomatic merry-go-round in Geneva
Geneva (AFP) Feb 17, 2026 - Geneva was abuzz with diplomatic to-and-fro on Tuesday as top US envoys shuttled between two of the biggest events in world news: high-stakes negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, and tense talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

Convoys of diplomatic vehicles criss-crossed the rainswept Swiss city, with journalists trying to work out who was going where, as the countries involved kept tight-lipped on how the talks were progressing.

Though the neutral ground of Geneva is well used to hosting international negotiations on the world's most pressing topics, two sets of such talks on the same day is an exceptional sight.

Early Tuesday, reporters and camera crews positioned themselves opposite the five-star Intercontinental Hotel, hoping to spot the Ukrainian, Russian and US delegations arriving for the first of two days of intense negotiations.

Meanwhile across Lake Geneva, other journalists were in the ultra-plush Cologny district, hoping to catch US and Iranian delegations arriving for talks being held at the Omani's ambassador's residence.

Journalists crammed onto the sidewalk by the neatly clipped hedgerows opposite the private street leading to the residence, to the bemusement of passing joggers and delivery drivers.

- Scrum in the swanky suburbs -

As the Iranian motorcade left, demonstrators shouted "terrorists!" and surged forward throwing objects, with the police swiftly shoving them -- and the reporters behind -- backwards, as some tumbled over in the melee.

Demonstrators voiced their outrage over what rights group say is the killing of thousands of Iranian protesters by security forces in the Islamic republic.

"They are killing children, they are killing teenagers by the thousands," protester Hossein, an Iranian living in Switzerland, told reporters.

"Why do you keep negotiating with terrorists?

"Regime change in Iran is the only way. Regime change by the people of Iran."

With scant information given by the various sides, back at the Intercontinental, vehicle registration plates gave away that the US delegation was sweeping in, straight from the Iran talks.

The luxury hotel is a favourite with the diplomatic jet-set, given its proximity to the United Nations, and is well-versed in hosting sensitive talks behind closed doors.

Across the street, organisers erected pop-up tents behind temporary barricades, offering the ever-growing media crowd some shelter from the frequent downpours.

With countries' diplomatic missions giving little away, journalists tried their luck approaching official-looking types in the hope of extracting nuggets of information. Some turned out to be bystanders who happened to be smartly dressed.

- Hope against hope -

Outside the United Nations, around 200 demonstrators denounced Iran's deadly protest crackdown, holding placards reading: "No negotiations with murderers".

They were later replaced by around 100 pro-Ukraine activists denouncing Russia's nearly four-year-old invasion, brandishing banners reading "Stop killing Ukrainians!" and "Save Ukraine to preserve peace in Europe".

Alexandre Plautard, a 24-year-old international relations student, said: "This is a historic moment. We might finally have a way forward."

He came to "remind the world of Russia's cruelty to Ukrainians", with its strikes on energy infrastructure during the bitter winter.

However, the Russians ultimately "have no interest in peace", he told AFP.

Psychology student Marianne, a Ukrainian who arrived in Geneva in 2022, said: "We are desperate. We don't really believe them (the Russians), but we hope there will be changes.

"We don't want to be too positive so as not to be disappointed."

Iran FM sees 'window of opportunity' in fresh US nuclear talks
Geneva (AFP) Feb 17, 2026 - Iran's top diplomat voiced hope Tuesday that "a new window of opportunity" seen in fresh nuclear talks with Washington would lead to a lasting solution to the two countries' stand-off.

The Omani-mediated talks in Geneva aimed at averting the possibility of US military action, while Tehran is demanding the lifting of Washington's sanctions, which are crippling its economy.

"A new window of opportunity has opened," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva after the talks, which lasted several hours.

"We are hopeful that negotiation will lead to a sustainable and negotiated solution which can serve the interest of relevant parties and the broader region," he said.

He insisted thought that a viable agreement "must ensure the full recognition of Iran's legitimate rights to deliver tangible benefits, and be safeguarded against unilateral actions".

Before the talks US President Donald Trump had warned of consequences should Tehran fail to strike a deal.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily: first over Iran's deadly crackdown on protesters last month and more recently over its nuclear programme.

Araghchi stressed that "Iran remains fully prepared to defend itself against any threat or act of aggression", and cautioned that "the consequences of any attack against Iran will not be confined to its borders".

- IAEA talks -

The Iranian foreign minister met in Geneva on Monday with Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Araghchi said Tuesday that that meeting had focused on "cooperation between Iran and the agency (and) the role that the agency can play between Iran and the United States to achieve a mutually-agreed agreement".

"Iran will continue its constructive dialogue and engagement with the agency to address these technical issues and to identify an agreed pathway for closing the outstanding gaps," he said.

Araghchi insisted that his country had "consistently affirmed that it neither seeks to manufacture nor to acquire nuclear weapons, which have no place whatsoever in Iran's national security doctrine".

He lamented though that "despite Iran's demonstrated commitment to diplomacy and good faith engagement, the conduct of certain Western states, most notably the United States, has seriously undermined the credibility of the negotiating process" until now.

Araghchi pointed to Washington's withdrawal from a previous nuclear deal during Trump's first term, warning it had "dealt a profound blow to trust and stability of multilateral obligations".

He also highlighted the US military attack on Iran last June, while the two sides "were in the midst of negotiations".