Name: Iran-US indirect talks: Third round of negotiations have ended
Uploaded: 2026-02-26T23:02:04.000Z
Duration: 12 min 56 s
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The third round of high level indirect talks between the US And Iran have wrapped up in Geneva.

Armand's foreign minister who has been mediating the talks, is hailing significant progress during those negotiations.

Now delegations will go back to consult with their respective governments.

The American diplomatic convoy has departed the Geneva location where the talks took place.

Iran earlier said the talks with the United States were intense and serious.

More talks are scheduled to take place in Austria next week.

But even as talks continue, American military assets are inching closer to the Middle East.

The USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, has left the Greek island of Crete and it's heading east.

Another aircraft carrier is already deployed near the Gulf of Amman.

And more than 300 US military aircraft have been flown to the reach.

We've got correspondents covering this story across the globe.

But first let's go to Geneva where Osama Binjaved is following the talks.

Geneva, Osama, thanks so much for being with us.

What do we know as to where things stand now?

Well, it appears that if you read the language from the Omani foreign minister who's been in the middle of this mediation, it was a positive day.

It resulted in talks that lasted for three hours, much longer than people anticipated.

Because essentially what was expected from these talks is that the Iranians will give their proposal to the Omanis, they'll present it to the Americans, they'll come back with some concerns and it is going to be, it is going to end there.

But it dragged on because for the first time the Iranians came, came up with a proposal on the table suggesting what they want to see as an outcome where they suggested reducing or halting their uranium enrichment activities, asking for economic sanctions to be lifted, proposing to the Americans that there's more in the offing in terms of economic bilateral dialogue as well as financial contracts.

The both sides went away and they came back after consultations.

And it appears that there is going to be a continuation next week.

Now, what we don't know is that what happened in these two rounds, what were the issues that remain unresolved?

Why are the Iranians and the Americans weren't able to reach a breakthrough?

Because this was seen as a make or break moment because of all of that buildup that you just discussed, scribe, in the Middle East.

Yes, there is indications that they're moving forward, the talks are going to continue.

This was done in an atmosphere of substance and much debate.

But again, all of that will depend on what is going to be the course of action that the United States takes in the next 48, 72 hours or the next week going forward.

Because as you've been seeing, seeing that patience is very thin and the warnings from the United States and Tehran have been coming in fast.

And Love Tawhid, from your vantage point in Iran, what have you heard thus far from Iranian officials as to how they perceive the way the talks have gone?

Well, speaking of the Iranian rhetoric in that regard, I can say that it is highlighted by an oscillation between hope for diplomacy and readiness for confrontation scenarios.

Iranians are taking a sort of cautiously calibrated pragmatism pertaining to the trajectory of talks rather than being too optimistic and too pessimistic.

First of all, Iranians are pretty much aware about the complexity of the situation, a list of knots that need to be untangled one by one.

And some of these knots, of course, are things that Iranian side is it's going to be off the table.

But right now they are focusing on the nuclear dossier of the country.

Even in that, there are controversies, specifically when we talk about the modalities for inspection, this stockpile of enriched uranium and the continuation of Iran's nuclear program on which Tehran is saying that it is ready to provide the other side with assurances to make sure that the trajectory of Iran's nuclear program is going to remain peaceful.

This is the statement that we heard today from, from Iranian President Mehsood Pezeshkian, echoing this statement from the Iran's supreme leader.

And the second factor is actually the very fact that the atmosphere of the talks is surrounded by this cloud of mistrust, specifically seeing the historical background of the talks between Iran and the United States, which runs the risk of lack of commitment from both sides.

And last but not least, there is this uncertainty about the possibility of diplomatic engagement ending up in a deal under current situation.

And on that, we know that there is this military major buildup in the region by the Americans and Iranians are interpreting it as an actor, as a sort of circumstance that further complicates this already delicate situation.

Kimberly, US Negotiators, of course, are going to be briefing US President Donald Trump at this stage.

Any indication as to how this moves forward now in Washington?

Yeah, it won't just be Donald Trump who will be getting an update.

We know that now with Talks set to resume again in the coming week, that there is going to be a lot of negotiation strategy that's going to be discussed in the next four or five, six days.

What we know is that in addition to Donald Trump being briefed, there will also be members of the Pentagon, the State, State Department, Capitol Hill, the intelligence community.

All these interagency departments not only need to be brief, but

also based on what has been so far decided in those closed door meetings, there may need to be a strategy shift or recalibration.

But what we do also know is that the US President in terms of his end state has been pretty clear Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

And so, so this is really coming down to increments and very tiny minutiae in terms of the wiggle room that is available to the United States as well as Iran.

Osama, there's going to be a new round of talks.

Is there still a sense of cautious optimism?

Because in one sense, haven't we already been here before?

What's the sense you're getting from the scene?

Well, the sense of deja vu was quite evident in all the media that was around that ambassador's house, that we have been here before, we have seen this play out.

And if you remember, eight months ago, they were still in negotiations in Oman when the Americans and the Israelis decided to attack Iran.

So as Tawheed was mentioning that there's this huge sea of mistrust between these two sides that is evident from the mechanism of the talks.

But there are indications to move this forward, indications that there might be a way forward for diplomacy.

There are people who've been talking about off ramps that exist for the Americans and for the Iranians, whether it's nuclear enrichment, whether it's talking about the access of resistance, but

it's talking about the removal of that stockpile that exists in Iran.

Whether it's zero percent enrichment, that is all on the table and there are workable solutions around it.

The presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency is also seen as a positive sign.

An international arbiter who can sit in the middle, go and confirm and verify that whatever was agreed upon is actually being delivered on the ground.

But again, that room actually narrows down when you look at what the actions on the ground have been.

When the Iranians say that they are not going to be pushed into a corner into subjugation by the United States, they're going to continue to fight and dig it out.

If the Push comes to shove, the Americans building up their troops to a level and their hardware to a level that the Middle east has not seen for nearly 25 years.

So it is going to be interesting to see how the next few hours pan out when these both sides are briefed by their respective teams and whether we get to next week for diplomacy.

Kimberly, the US now has several thousand military personnel directly in the firing line of Iran's ballistic missiles.

How is all this playing out with lawmakers who may be demanding that Congress should approve any military action going forward?

Well, the continued military readiness is something that the United States and the Trump administration believes has helped to accelerate and push these talks along.

And so don't expect there to be any pumping of the brakes with that.

In fact, this is something that will be ongoing in the background of these negotiations because this has been the dual strategy of the Trump administration.

Having said that, it's making a lot of people uncomfortable back in the United States, not just ordinary Americans, where polls show a majority are not in favor of military action, but

also on Capitol Hill where there are efforts in both the House of representatives and the U.S.

senate to try and force a vote on military strikes with Iran.

Tawhid the US Military buildup obviously is putting a lot of pressure on Iran.

I'm curious to find out from you what you're hearing from Iranians about their sense of how this can move forward.

Diplomatically speaking of the public mood here in Iran, it is highlighted by a mixture of different sentiments.

But what tops the list of this different range of sentiments is actually frustration that Iranians, very ordinary Iranians, I mean, are feeling about that the how future could unfurl regarding these recent buildup by the Americans.

And that is running a serious risk of confrontation down the road.

This is a sort of path dependent development.

It remains to be seen whether diplomatic engagement could pave the way for a settlement, and

Otherwise they will be most probably facing more confrontational scenarios.

And that is creating a lot of, I would say now, daily concern about the possibility of war.

And the previous four proved that this is not something limited to military infrastructures or systems or nuclear facilities of the country.

Seeing the very fact that there were several civilian fatalities in the war, in the campaign of strikes that Americans and Israelis started against their country, and

we saw a lot of civilian fatalities, civilian injuries, hospitals being attacked, and

that is creating a sort of concern among the people.

But added to that is this public dissatisfaction that we have been clearly witnessing across the country, specifically after the massive protest that we saw in December, which started with a sort of economic dissatisfaction, but

later on we saw other spheres, political and socialist fears of dissatisfaction.