Geneva Hosts New Talks Between Washington and Tehran

SadaNews - All eyes are on Geneva next Tuesday, where two separate rounds of diplomatic negotiations regarding Iran and Ukraine are set to take place, amid escalating American warnings to Tehran and growing fears of the region slipping into a broader confrontation if political efforts falter.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that a U.S. delegation including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet with the Iranian side in Geneva on Tuesday morning as part of the continuation of dialogue that began with a first round hosted by Oman on February 6.

The source added that Witkoff and Kushner will later participate on the same day in trilateral talks bringing together representatives from Russia and Ukraine, in an effort to advance efforts to end the war that has been ongoing for nearly four years.

Washington and Tehran had previously announced their intention to continue dialogue, despite the escalating rhetoric from the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump had warned Iran of "very painful consequences" if it does not agree to a deal regarding its nuclear program, affirming during a press conference at the White House that he hopes to strike a deal within a month, warning that the absence of an agreement "will be extremely harsh" on Tehran.

In this context, informed sources revealed that the U.S. aircraft carrier "USS Gerald R. Ford" will head to the Middle East to join the aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln" currently in the Arabian Sea, a move that comes as the U.S. administration considers additional options to deal with Iran, according to the Associated Press.

International and regional powers fear that a failure of negotiations between Washington and Tehran could ignite a wider conflict, as these developments coincide with parallel efforts to revive the negotiating track on the war in Ukraine.