US secretary of state expects no major breakthrough at talks with Iran
發佈日期: 2026-02-26 21:55
TVB News
Representatives from Iran and the United States are meeting in Geneva for nuclear negotiations.
The talks are viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as Washington has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.
With vital talks in Geneva underway, US President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran's nuclear programme, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month.
Iran has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its programme sits in ruins following Trump ordering an attack in June of last year on three of the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites.
If an American attack happens, Iran has said all US military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members.
Iran has also threatened to attack Israel following a bruising 12-day war last year, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.
"There would be no victory for anybody - it would be a devastating war," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva.
Speaking to reporters in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the negotiations are aimed at addressing its returning nuclear weapons programme but there are major concerns with its conventional missiles as well.
Rubio said, "Iran poses a very great threat to the United States and has for a very long time. They are in possession, first and foremost, after their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it, and here they are, you can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it. They're not enriching right now, but they're trying to get to the point where they ultimately can."
"The other thing I would point you to, however, is that Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles, that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of our bases, in the UAE, in Qatar, in Bahrain. And they also possess naval assets that threaten shipping and try to threaten the U.S. Navy."
Iran has said it hasn't enriched since June, but it has blocked inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency from visiting the sites bombed by the US.
