US-Iran Nuclear Talks Conclude in Geneva — Technical Discussions Set for Vienna as War Risk Looms

Iran and the United States have wrapped up what Tehran described as the "longest and most serious" round of nuclear negotiations yet, in Geneva, with both sides claiming progress but leaving key disagreements unresolved — as the shadow of military confrontation grows longer over the Middle East.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emerged from Thursday's talks at a secure compound on the shores of Lake Geneva and told state television that the two sides had been able to "identify the main elements of a possible agreement" — a cautiously optimistic note that was swiftly tempered by Washington's insistence that significant gaps remain, particularly on the question of Iranian uranium enrichment on its own soil.

The talks, brokered once again by Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, were divided into morning and afternoon sessions and took place against the backdrop of an extraordinary military build-up. The US Navy's USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier departed NATO's Souda Bay base in Crete on Thursday — heading towards the Eastern Mediterranean and, by implication, towards striking range of Iran — joining a second carrier strike group already positioned in the Gulf.

What Was Agreed — and What Was Not

The Omani foreign minister, who shuttled between the Iranian and American delegations throughout the day without the two sides ever sitting in the same room, described what he called "significant progress" and confirmed that technical teams from both countries had agreed to meet at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna early next week.

Iran's written proposals — which Araghchi handed to al-Busaidi on Wednesday night before the formal session — are understood to include a willingness to reduce Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium to low, civilian-use levels, subject to close IAEA monitoring. An Iranian official who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity said the proposal was "politically serious, technically creative, and includes everything required to reach an agreement immediately." Tehran has firmly ruled out permanently abandoning enrichment altogether, or moving its uranium stockpiles outside the country.

The US position, articulated in stark terms by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the days leading up to the talks, is that no uranium enrichment should take place on Iranian soil — a maximalist demand that analysts say goes far beyond what was agreed under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Rubio also identified Iran's ballistic missile programme as what he called "a big, big problem," and said Tehran's refusal to even discuss its missiles in Geneva was unacceptable.