GENEVA — U.S. and Iranian negotiators are set to resume US-Iran nuclear talks Tuesday, reviving a fraught channel meant to cap Tehran’s nuclear program and open the way to sanctions relief. The indirect session, brokered by Oman, comes as Washington expands its military footprint in the Middle East and Iran signals it will not accept demands to end uranium enrichment on its soil, Feb. 17, 2026.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to take part alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, with Omani diplomats shuttling messages between separate delegations, according to Reuters’ reporting on the Geneva talks.
President Donald Trump, who said he would be “indirectly” involved, tied the stakes to last year’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. “We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s,” he told reporters, according to a separate Reuters account of his remarks.
What’s at stake in the US-Iran nuclear talks
Both governments describe the US-Iran nuclear talks as a narrow attempt to prevent another escalation after last summer’s fighting, while leaving thornier disputes — missiles, proxies and regional conflicts — largely outside the room. The Trump administration has pressed for talks that eventually tackle non-nuclear issues, while Iran insists the agenda stay focused on nuclear restrictions in return for sanctions relief.
The talks follow a first round held in Oman, Feb. 6, and are taking place as U.S. forces surge into the region and Iran conducts maritime exercises near key shipping lanes. The Associated Press reported that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not “prejudge” the negotiations and that “the president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes.”
A core dispute remains enrichment itself. U.S. officials have sought to stop or sharply limit Iranian enrichment, arguing it can shorten the time needed to produce weapons-grade material. Tehran says enrichment is a sovereign right and says it is willing to “build trust” that enrichment is for peaceful purposes, while rejecting what Araqchi called “submission before threats.”
Another point of pressure is the status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and access for inspectors. Western officials and the International Atomic Energy Agency have pushed Iran to clarify what happened to roughly 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium and to restore full monitoring at key sites damaged in the 2025 strikes, according to reporting by Reuters and the AP.
In recent days, Iranian officials have floated interim technical steps as a possible bridge. Iran has offered to dilute enriched uranium in exchange for full sanctions relief, according to Euronews’ reporting on Tehran’s proposal.
Independent analysts note that uranium enriched to 60% can be further enriched to weapons-grade more quickly than low-enriched material, even if turning that material into a deliverable weapon would likely take longer. A recent overview by the Council on Foreign Relations outlines how Iran’s enrichment levels and stockpile have become central leverage points in the US-Iran nuclear talks amid competing estimates of “breakout” timelines. (See CFR’s backgrounder on Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.)
Military buildup shadows the US-Iran nuclear talks
The US-Iran nuclear talks are unfolding against an unusually combustible military backdrop. U.S. officials have described contingency planning for a sustained campaign if diplomacy fails, while Iran has warned it could retaliate across the region and has repeatedly threatened to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for a significant share of global oil shipments.
U.S. and Iranian navies have also had recent run-ins, including incidents involving drones and commercial vessels, adding to concerns in Gulf capitals that even a limited clash could widen quickly. The show of force has left Omani mediators trying to keep the talks focused on nuclear terms, while both sides communicate that they do not want a broader war.
How the US-Iran nuclear talks got here
Oman’s role as intermediary is not new. It helped host secret U.S.-Iran contacts that laid groundwork for earlier agreements, including discreet meetings described in a 2013 Reuters report on backchannel diplomacy.
Those contacts eventually fed into the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the multinational deal that imposed limits and inspections in return for sanctions relief. TIME’s contemporaneous account of the agreement noted provisions to reduce centrifuges and shrink Iran’s uranium stockpile (read TIME’s 2015 story on the nuclear deal).
The accord began to unravel after Trump pulled the United States out in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. An Associated Press report from May 2018 described the withdrawal as a major blow to U.S. allies and warned it could raise doubts about American credibility.
Efforts to revive the pact resurfaced in 2021 with indirect negotiations in Vienna involving Iran, the United States and other parties to the 2015 deal. Reuters’ April 2021 report on the Vienna talks described European intermediaries shuttling between U.S. and Iranian delegations because Tehran rejected direct talks.
Today’s US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva mark the latest attempt to restart that diplomacy after the 2025 conflict and strikes on nuclear sites. For now, both sides are signaling hard lines — Iran on enrichment and missiles, the U.S. on preventing any pathway to a nuclear weapon — even as they test whether a limited nuclear arrangement can stabilize the region.
Diplomats said expectations are modest, but the consequences of failure are high. The next days of US-Iran nuclear talks will be watched for any sign of agreement on inspection access, enrichment caps or dilution steps, and the sequencing of sanctions relief.
