GENEVA: Iran and the United States began fresh talks in Geneva on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump warned of consequences should Tehran fail to strike a deal.
Mediated by Oman, the discussions are aimed at averting the possibility of US military action, with Tehran expressing cautious optimism at Washington's "more realistic" position on its nuclear program.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily against Iran, first over a reported crackdown on protesters last month and then more recently over its nuclear program.
"I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal," he told reporters aboard Air Force One ahead of the talks.
A previous attempt at diplomacy collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran in June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.
"A cautious assessment is that, from the discussions that have taken place in Muscat to date, at least what we have been told is that the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Iranian state TV reported on Tuesday that the indirect talks had begun with the two sides exchanging messages through Omani mediators.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi in Geneva to discuss his country's position "regarding nuclear issues and sanctions relief".
He also stressed Tehran's "seriousness in using result-oriented diplomacy to secure the legitimate interests and rights of the Iranian people" and preserve peace in the region, according to a ministry statement.
Iran has insisted that the discussions be limited to the nuclear issue, though Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed, including Tehran's ballistic missiles program and support for armed groups in the region.
War games
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps began 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 liquefied natural gas, as both sides ramp up pressure.
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."
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 also 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 program is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.
Regime change?
Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House confirmed on Sunday.
On Friday, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure.
The first carrier dispatched to the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln, was positioned about 700 kilometers from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, new satellite images showed.
Iran's deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC that Tehran would consider compromises on its uranium stockpile if Washington lifted sanctions that have crippled the country's economy.
The purchasing power of Iranians has been steadily eroded in recent months amid rising prices and a sharp depreciation in the currency.
"If we see the sincerity on their (American) part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement," Takht-Ravanchi said.
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday that the US warship deployed in the Gulf could be sunk.
"We constantly hear that they (the United States) have sent a warship toward Iran. A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it," said Khamenei in a speech.
