GENEVA — President Donald Trump said he will be “indirectly” involved in a second round of high-stakes U.S.-Iran nuclear talks opening Tuesday in Switzerland, as both sides signal urgency amid a military buildup that has stoked fears of a wider regional conflict.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, Trump called the Geneva discussions “very important” and described Iran as “a very tough negotiator.” He suggested Tehran is now motivated to reach an agreement after last year’s escalation. “I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” he said, recalling how indirect negotiations derailed last June after the United States joined Israel’s 12-day war on Iran and bombed three of its nuclear sites.
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The diplomatic push comes with tensions running high across the Gulf. Washington has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the region, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any attack on Iran would trigger a regional war. On Monday, the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the stakes around a key global energy chokepoint.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the narrow waterway—which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows—in response to an attack, a move that would jolt crude prices and roil energy markets. Tehran has also threatened to strike U.S. bases across the region if hostilities escalate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Geneva on Monday for preparatory meetings before the indirect talks with U.S. envoys. “In Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” he posted on X, adding: “What is not on the table: submission before threats.” Iranian officials in Tehran have signaled “optimism,” with a delegation comprising fully authorized economic, legal, political and technical teams, an indication they are prepared for detailed discussions on the nuclear file.
Major hurdles remain. U.S. negotiators are seeking to bar uranium enrichment on Iranian soil and broaden the agenda to include non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile stockpile. Tehran insists its program is for peaceful purposes and says it will only consider curbs in exchange for meaningful sanctions relief. Iranian officials have ruled out a “zero enrichment” outcome and say missile capabilities are off the table.
In Geneva, Araghchi also met Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, for technical talks focused on restoring oversight. Iran suspended cooperation with the U.N. watchdog after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on its nuclear infrastructure. The IAEA has pressed Tehran for months to clarify what happened to a stockpile of 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium after those attacks and to fully resume inspections, including at the bombed sites in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.
Iran has allowed limited IAEA access to facilities that were not damaged but continues to deny inspectors at other locations, citing concerns about radiation exposure. The lack of comprehensive monitoring complicates efforts to verify any new agreement and has heightened international pressure for transparency as talks resume.
The twin tracks of diplomacy and deterrence are moving in tandem. While U.S. forces surge into the region and Iran conducts high-profile drills, regional governments are intensifying their own shuttle diplomacy to avert miscalculation. The window for compromise may be narrow: talks in recent years have repeatedly buckled over sequencing—how fast sanctions are lifted versus how quickly and credibly Iran rolls back nuclear activity under verifiable inspection.
Still, both Washington and Tehran are telegraphing potential give-and-take. For the United States, the priority is to constrain Iran’s nuclear advances and reduce the risk of a flashpoint in the Strait of Hormuz. For Iran, tangible economic relief and a face-saving framework on enrichment are essential. Whether indirect involvement from the White House helps bridge entrenched red lines—or hardens them—will become clearer as delegates test each other’s bottom lines in Geneva.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
