Supreme leader says Iran can sink US warship as Geneva talks conclude

By Robin MILLARD
Geneva (AFP) Feb 17, 2026
Iran's supreme leader warned on Tuesday that the country had the ability to sink a US warship deployed to the Gulf, as fresh talks between the two sides concluded in Switzerland.

The threat by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei follows a military build-up by the United States in the region as President Donald Trump piles pressure on Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme.

The Omani-mediated talks were aimed at averting the possibility of US military action, while Tehran is demanding the lifting of US sanctions that are crippling its economy.

An AFP journalist saw the delegations of both countries leave the location of the talks at the residence of the Omani ambassador on Tuesday afternoon.

Trump had warned of consequences ahead of the talks should Tehran fail to strike a deal.

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

Washington has ordered two aircraft carriers to the region, with the first, the USS Abraham Lincoln with nearly 80 aircraft, 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 at the weekend as Trump ratcheted up pressure.

"I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal," he told reporters ahead of the talks.

But Khamenei followed up with tough rhetoric of his own after the talks began, saying Iran possessed weapons able to sink an American warship.

"We constantly hear that they have sent a warship towards Iran. A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it," he said in a speech.

He added that Trump would not succeed in destroying the Islamic republic.

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.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei on Tuesday said the lifting of sanctions must be an integral part of any deal.

- War games -

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

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

On Tuesday state TV reported that Tehran would close parts of the waterway for "safety" measures during the drills.

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.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday: "We're hopeful there's a deal."

"The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things," he added.

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, said on X that he too had come to "Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal", but added there would be no "submission before threats".

The foreign minister met in Geneva on Monday with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, "for deep technical discussion".

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

Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to Geneva, the White House confirmed on Sunday.

On Friday, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen".

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."

Khamenei says US 'will not succeed' in destroying Iran
Tehran (AFP) Feb 17, 2026 - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump would not succeed in destroying the Islamic republic, as talks between the two countries took place in Geneva.

"In one of his recent speeches, the US president said that for 47 years America has not succeeded in destroying the Islamic republic... I tell you: you will not succeed either," Khamenei said in a speech.

The remarks came as Tehran and Washington engaged in a second round of talks on Tuesday.

The first round was held earlier in February, after previous talks collapsed during last year's Iran-Israel war.

The latest discussions come after Washington deployed an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf following Iran's deadly crackdown last month on anti-government protests, which were triggered by economic hardship.

During his speech, Khamenei warned that the US warship deployed in the Gulf could be sunk.

"We constantly hear that they have sent a warship towards Iran. A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it," he said.

Khamenei expressed scepticism over the outcome of the negotiations with the US.

"If there are to be negotiations -- because there is no real room for negotiation -- determining the outcome of the negotiations in advance is a mistake and madness," he said, referring to US calls for Iran to abandon its nuclear programme.

During Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June, the United States joined briefly with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, which had reached 60 percent purity before the war, remains among the key sticking points between Tehran and Washington.

The US has repeatedly called for zero enrichment, but has also sought to address Iran's ballistic missile programme and its support for militant groups in the region -- issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.

On Tuesday, the Fars news agency quoted Khamenei as saying that the issue of Iran's missile programme "does not concern it (the US) at all".

Iran has insisted the talks be focused only on the nuclear issue and says its right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable.

"The statements of the American president, at times threatening and at times dictating what should and should not be done, reveal a desire to dominate the Iranian nation," Khamenei said.