Iran's foreign minister meets IAEA director ahead of US talks

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said he will meet with the director of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, the day before a second round of US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.

"I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats," Araqchi said on X.

Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear program and avert a new military confrontation as US warships, including a second aircraft carrier, are deploying to the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy held a drill in the Hormuz Strait on Monday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, aimed at testing the readiness of operational forces in the face of "possible security and military threats."

While Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues like Iran's missile stockpile, Tehran says it is only willing to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and won't accept zero uranium enrichment.

Prior to the US joining Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites in June, Iran-US nuclear talks had stalled over Washington's demand that Tehran forgoes enrichment on its soil, which the US views as a pathway to an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes and is ready to assuage concerns regarding nuclear weapons by "building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes."

Araqchi said he will meet International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi on Monday accompanied by nuclear experts "for deep technical discussions."

The IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to its stockpile of 440 kilogram of highly enriched uranium following Israeli-US strikes and let inspections fully resume, including in three key sites that were bombed in June: Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.

While Iran allowed the UN nuclear watchdog to inspect declared nuclear facilities that were not targeted last June, it says that the IAEA must clarify its stance regarding US and Israeli strikes and adds that the bombed sites are unsafe for inspections.

The IAEA and Iran announced an agreement in September in Cairo that was supposed to pave the way towards full inspections and verification, but Tehran scrapped the agreement after Western powers reinstated UN sanctions on Iran.

Netanyahu says US-Iran deal must dismantle nuclear infrastructure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he told US President Donald Trump last week that any US deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process.

Speaking at the annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu also said Israel still needs to "complete the job" of destroying all tunnels in Gaza. Israel, he said, has already dismantled 150 kilometers of an estimated 500km.

Netanyahu said he is skeptical of a deal but it must include enriched material leaving Iran. "There shall be no enrichment capability – not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantling the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place," he said.

US media reported on Sunday that Trump told Netanyahu as early as December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran's ballistic missile program if a deal cannot be reached.

The report said US military and intelligence officials have also discussed how Washington could assist Israel in potential operations against Iran's missile infrastructure, including providing aerial refueling for Israeli aircraft and helping secure overflight permissions from related regional countries.

Netanyahu also said that he aimed to end US military aid to Israel within the next 10 years, after the current 10-year deal of receiving $3.8 billion a year – which is largely spent in the United States on equipment – ends in 2028.

Due to a thriving economy, "we can afford to phase out the financial component of the military aid that we're receiving, and I propose a 10-year draw-down to zero. Now, in the three years that remain in the present memorandum of understanding and another seven years draw it down to zero," Netanyahu said.

"We want to move with the United States from aid to partnership," he said.