Iran sees 'favourable outlook' ahead of nuclear talks with US

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that he was hopeful ahead of the third round of indirect talks with the United States, adding that they could help end the standoff with Washington.

"We see a favourable outlook for the negotiations," said Pezeshkian in a speech on Wednesday.

"We are continuing the process under the guidance of the supreme leader so that we can move beyond this 'neither war nor peace' situation."

The statement came as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed for Geneva to participate in the next round of indirect nuclear negotiations with the United States on Thursday.

Araghchi, who serves as the lead Iranian negotiator, is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi, as well as a team of nuclear and legal experts, Iranian state media reported.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs, who is currently in the Swiss city and addressed the Geneva Disarmament Forum on Monday, will also join the delegation.

The American side, as in previous rounds, will be led by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Tehran and Washington have held two rounds of indirect talks under Omani mediation since nuclear diplomacy resumed last month, following efforts by regional countries, including Türkiye, to ease tensions.

After the previous round in Geneva – which followed the first round in Muscat – both sides offered positive assessments, agreeing on “guiding principles” that Iranian negotiators said could pave the way toward a potential agreement.

Writing on X on Tuesday evening, Araghchi said the Iranian delegation will head to Geneva “with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal in the shortest possible time.”

He added that the new round of talks will be “pillared on the understandings forged in the previous rounds” in Muscat and Geneva.

Iran will “under no circumstances ever” develop a nuclear weapon, Araghchi said, emphasising that the Iranian people will never relinquish their right to “harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology for our people.”

“We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests,” he said.

The talks come amid a significant US military buildup in the Gulf region, alongside a series of recent drills conducted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Addressing the US Congress on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he prefers resolving disputes with Iran through diplomacy, while not ruling out military action.

“We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”

In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the US president of telling “big lies,” dismissing Washington’s claims about Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and the casualty toll from recent protests in the country.

According to experts, Thursday’s round of talks will be decisive and will determine the future course of diplomacy between the two countries.