Iran foreign minister: progress made in Geneva nuclear talks with US

Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main "guiding principles" in a second round of indirect talks over their nuclear dispute on Tuesday, but that does not mean a deal is imminent, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.

"Different ideas have been presented, these ideas have been seriously discussed, ultimately we've been able to reach a general agreement on some guiding principles," Araqchi told Iranian media after the talks concluded in Geneva.

"From now on, we will move based on those principles and enter the text of a potential agreement."

After the exchange of documents the two sides will decide on a date for a third round of negotiations, he said.

US builds military presence in Middle East 

The US has sent a battle force to the Middle East to press Tehran to make concessions in the decades-long nuclear dispute and President Donald Trump has said "regime change" in Tehran may be the best thing that can happen.

Iranian state media reported earlier that Iran would temporarily shut part of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, as it held talks over its nuclear program while Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday that any US attempts to depose the government would fail.

Oil futures fell and the price of the benchmark Brent crude contract fell more than 1 percent after Araqchi's comments eased some tension over imminent supply disruption.

Speaking at a disarmament conference in Geneva after the talks, Araqchi said that a "new window of opportunity" had opened and that he hoped talks would lead to a "sustainable" solution that ensured the full recognition of Iran's legitimate rights.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in the Geneva talks, which were being mediated by Oman, according to news reporters. The White House did not respond to emailed questions about the meeting.

Earlier, Trump said he himself would be involved "indirectly" in the Geneva talks and that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal.

"I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday. "We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s in to knock out their nuclear potential. And we had to send the B-2s."

The US joined Israel last June in bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.

Even the strongest can be 'slapped'

Just after the talks started, Iranian media cited Khamenei as saying Washington could not force out the government. 

"The US President says their army is the world's strongest, but the strongest army in the world can sometimes be slapped so hard it cannot get up," he said, in comments published by Iranian media.

Khamenei reiterated Iran's position that its missile program is non-negotiable and that their type and range have nothing to do with the United States.

A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday the success of the Geneva talks hinged on the US not making unrealistic demands and on its seriousness on lifting sanctions on Iran.

Tuesday's meeting took place at the residence of the Omani ambassador to the United Nations amid a heavy security presence. Some cars with Iranian diplomatic licence plates were visible outside.

The US military is preparing for the possibility of weeks of operations against Iran if Trump orders an attack, two US officials said.

Just as the talks got under way in Geneva, Iranian state media reported that parts of the strategic Strait of Hormuz would close for a few hours due to "security precautions" while Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards conducted military drills there.

Tehran has in the past threatened to shut down the strait to commercial shipping if it is attacked, a move that would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and drive up crude prices.

Iran has joined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forgo atomic weapons and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Israel, which has not signed the NPT, neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weapons, under a decades-old ambiguity policy designed to deter surrounding enemies. Scholars believe it does.