(Replace) February 2, 2026, 10:23 PM GMT: Article up to date.
US President Donald Trump mentioned he anticipated talks with Iran over a brand new nuclear deal within the coming days, constructing on a flurry of diplomatic exercise aimed toward averting struggle between the 2 nations.
“We have now ships heading to Iran proper now, huge ones, greatest and the perfect, and now we have talks occurring with Iran,” Trump instructed reporters Monday within the Oval Workplace.
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“If we are able to work one thing out that’d be nice, and if we are able to’t, in all probability dangerous issues would occur,” he continued.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the beginning of negotiations with Washington “inside the framework of the nuclear difficulty,” Iran’s semi-official Fars information service reported Monday, citing a authorities supply. Talks may embody senior officers from each nations resembling US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Tasnim information service mentioned, citing a supply it didn’t determine.
“We’re prepared for diplomacy, however they have to perceive that diplomacy isn’t suitable with threats, intimidation or stress,” Araghchi mentioned on state TV. “We’ll stay steadfast on this path and hope to see its outcomes quickly.”
A number of nations within the Center East have been performing as intermediaries between Tehran and Washington, in response to Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s international ministry. No time or location for an preliminary assembly has been set, Tasnim mentioned, whereas particulars of what could be mentioned stay unclear, resembling whether or not the US would push for the Islamic Republic to finish uranium enrichment.
Iran’s precedence in new talks will likely be sanctions aid and Tehran is “real looking” in its method, Baghaei mentioned.
The developments underline the worldwide effort to ease Center East tensions as Trump threatens Iran with army motion if it doesn’t attain an settlement to curb its nuclear program. American naval belongings have been dispatched towards the area and Trump mentioned Sunday they had been “a few days” away, even whereas unspecified Gulf allies negotiate to “make a deal.”
Oil costs fell sharply on Monday, partly due to the heightened diplomatic maneuvers, with Brent dropping round 4% to $66.50 a barrel. Costs are nonetheless up roughly 8.5% this 12 months due to the still-high probabilities of a battle within the oil-rich area.
Iranian Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei warned Sunday of a “regional struggle” if his nation is attacked. Tehran has beforehand threatened to retaliate with strikes on Israel and US bases within the area, because it has in response to earlier assaults.
Diplomatic Push
Trump final month threatened to strike Iran over the authorities’ lethal crackdown on protests in opposition to poor dwelling requirements, which later had unfold into an rebellion in opposition to Khamenei’s regime. Greater than 6,800 folks had been killed within the unrest, the US-based Human Rights Activists Information Company has reported, with many hundreds extra circumstances underneath evaluation.
Trump ultimately backed down, earlier than pivoting to the shortage of a nuclear deal as a motive to assault. Washington and Tehran held a number of rounds of talks on an settlement to curb Iran’s atomic actions in alternate for sanctions aid final 12 months, earlier than Israel — later joined by the US — started airstrikes in June.
Trump has mentioned repeatedly that Iran’s nuclear program was obliterated on account of these assaults. Nonetheless, Tehran stopped permitting worldwide inspectors entry to some websites after the battle ended, clouding data of the nation’s nuclear program and its stockpile of close to weapons-grade uranium.
Iran has no intention of transferring enriched nuclear materials to some other nation, mentioned Ali Bagheri Kani, the deputy for international coverage on the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, in response to Tasnim. The nation has at all times denied it’s excited by constructing nuclear weapons.
Araghchi has held talks with counterparts in Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates since Friday.
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed canceled a state go to to Japan that was deliberate for later this week as a result of Iran tensions, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported, citing unidentified state officers.
The UAE authorities didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Bloomberg.
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