Geneva: In a potentially significant diplomatic development, U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated he is open to meeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tehran prepare for a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump favors peace and believes direct dialogue is the best path forward. According to Rubio, if conditions are right, Trump would be willing to engage directly with Iran’s top leadership.
Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Saturday that the United States and Iran will hold a second round of discussions next week focused on Tehran’s nuclear activities. The talks will take place in Geneva, though an exact date has not yet been announced. The first round of indirect negotiations was held on February 6 with mediation by Oman.
Despite the diplomatic opening, tensions remain high. Following the initial talks, President Trump warned Tehran that failure to reach an agreement with his administration would lead to “very painful” consequences. Similar negotiations collapsed in June 2025 after Israel launched a 12-day military campaign against Iran, during which the United States also carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions, while Iranian officials have warned of strong retaliation in the event of an attack. The U.S. president has also criticized Iran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests and recently suggested that a change in leadership in Tehran “would be the best thing that could happen.”
As part of a show of force, Trump announced that the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is being redeployed from the Caribbean to the Middle East to join other American military assets in the region. Gulf Arab states have cautioned that any new conflict could quickly spiral into a wider regional war.
The February 6 talks involved Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, held indirectly and with senior military commanders present for the first time. The Trump administration has insisted that Iran must completely halt uranium enrichment under any agreement—a demand Tehran has flatly rejected.
Before the June conflict, Iran was enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, just a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the country is “ready for any kind of verification,” but the International Atomic Energy Agency has been unable to fully inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile for several months.
While Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, U.S. officials remain skeptical. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Trump in Washington this week, has argued that any deal must also neutralize Iran’s ballistic missile program and end its support for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
For now, both sides say they are willing to keep talking—but with deep mistrust, stark red lines, and the threat of military escalation looming over the negotiations.