A woman looks at a stall displaying dried fruits and nuts at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on February 24, 2026. Iran warned the United States on February 23, 2026, that any attack would be met “ferociously” in response to the US president’s threat of limited strikes. The United States has built up forces in the Middle East to pile pressure on Iran to make a deal at negotiations due to restart on February 26, with the US president weighing a limited strike if no agreement is reached. (Photo by AFP)
Iran is ready to take any necessary steps to reach a deal with the United States, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said yesterday, as the two countries prepare for a fresh round of talks.
The talks are set to take place tomorrow in Geneva, a senior US official said yesterday, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner slated to meet with an Iranian delegation for the negotiations.
The two countries resumed negotiations earlier this month as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East. Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the region if it is attacked.
“We are ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We will do whatever it takes to make this happen. We will enter the negotiating room in Geneva with complete honesty and good faith,” Takht-Ravanchi said in comments carried by state media. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday that US President Donald Trump’s first option was always diplomacy but that he was willing to use lethal force if necessary.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran would seriously consider a combination of sending half of its most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the rest and taking part in creating a regional enrichment consortium – an idea periodically raised during years of Iran-linked diplomacy.
Iran would do this in return for US recognition of Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” under a deal that would also include lifting economic sanctions, the official said.
“If there is an attack or aggression against Iran, we will respond according to our defence plans… A US attack on Iran is a real gamble,” Takht-Ravanchi added. Indirect talks between the two sides last year brought no agreement, primarily due to friction over a US demand that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil, which Washington views as a pathway to a nuclear bomb. Iran has always denied seeking such weapons.
The US joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites last June, effectively curtailing Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Trump saying its key nuclear sites
were “obliterated.”
But Iran is still believed to possess stockpiles enriched previously, which Washington wants it to relinquish.
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