US Vice President JD Vance says progress has been made in the latest talks with Iran but that “certain red lines” remain as Tehran keeps up its tough rhetoric towards Washington.
After the second round of talks in Geneva on Tuesday, Mr Vance said in an interview with Fox News that the Iranians “are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through” the red lines set by US President Donald Trump.
But he said the negotiation “in some ways … went well” and that the Iranians had agreed to meet again.
One of red lines is that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon, Mr Vance said. Iran has long maintained it would not discuss its ballistic missiles and would limit talks to its nuclear programme, which it insists is for peaceful purposes.
Iran has repeatedly said it is not seeking a nuclear weapon. The US wants Iran to end nuclear enrichment, but Iran has called zero enrichment a “red line”.
Mr Trump wants to resolve Iran's nuclear issue through diplomacy but “reserves the ability to say when he thinks diplomacy has reached its natural end”, Mr Vance added.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has commented on the talks in a series of posts on X, maintaining the line that Iran is entitled to own nuclear installations according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. “This is among a nation's rights. Why does the US interfere?” he wrote.
Both sides said some progress was made during the talks on Tuesday. A US official said “there are still a lot of details to discuss”. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “guiding principles” had been agreed.
The US has been building its military presence in the region over the past few weeks, ramping up air and naval firepower to put pressure on Iran.
Iran said on Tuesday it was closing parts of the strategic Strait of Hormuz for a few hours for drills. MarineTraffic, a ships monitor, showed normal activity in the area on Wednesday morning, but there was no official comment from Iran about the strait reopening.
Iran's Fars news agency said Iran and Russia will conduct navy drills in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean on Thursday.
"Creating convergence and coordination in joint measures to counter activities threatening maritime security and safety (...) as well as combating maritime terrorism, are among the main goals of this joint exercise," Fars cited Iranian navy commander Hassan Maghsoodloo as saying.
In response to American threats, Mr Khamenei warned that “more dangerous than a ship is the weapon that sends it to the bottom of the sea.”
Amid the tension, Israeli and US officials continue to call for military action
“Striking Iran is not just a political decision,” said Israeli former defence minister Yoav Gallant. “It's an operational one. And the conditions are coming together.” Israel has long been opposed to a nuclear deal with Iran.
Iran hawks in the Trump administration, like Lindsey Graham, agree. He said on Monday that the US is “on the verge of eliminating the largest state sponsor of terrorism”, referring to Iran.
He was speaking at an event in Tel Aviv, where he also said that Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are of one mind when it comes to “what to do and how to do it”. T
The US is following two paths to bring about the end of the Iranian regime, Mr Graham said: diplomatic and military.
But Mr Khamenei said: “The US President has said that for 47 years, the United States hasn't been able to eliminate the Islamic Republic. That is a good confession. I say: 'You, too, will not be able to do this'.”
