Iran cites “encouraging signals” as US builds military pressure ahead of Geneva talks

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says nuclear negotiations with the United States are showing tentative progress — but he is making clear that Tehran is preparing for the possibility that diplomacy could collapse.

“Iran is committed to peace and stability in the region,” Pezeshkian wrote on X. “Recent negotiations involved the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals. However, we continue to closely monitor US actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario.”

The tone is measured: cautiously optimistic in public, defensive in posture. His remarks come days before another round of indirect talks scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, mediated by Oman. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi confirmed the meeting, saying: “Pleased to confirm US-Iran negotiations are now set for Geneva this Thursday, with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal.”

The talks resumed earlier this month in Oman and continued in Geneva last week. Both Washington and Tehran described those sessions in broadly positive terms, but neither side has reported a breakthrough. The diplomatic choreography continues — proposals exchanged, signals sent — while the strategic pressure outside the negotiating rooms intensifies.

US President Donald Trump has warned of “really bad things” if no agreement is reached, and Washington has significantly increased its military footprint in the region. According to US media reports, the airpower being assembled in the Gulf is the largest American buildup there since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. More than 120 aircraft have reportedly been deployed in recent days. The USS Gerald R Ford is en route to join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group already stationed in the Arabian Sea.

The messaging from Washington has been blunt. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff questioned Iran’s resistance under mounting pressure:

“I don’t want to use the word ‘frustrated’, because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to… why they haven’t capitulated,” Witkoff said during an interview with My View with Lara Trump on Fox News. “Why, under this pressure – with the amount of seapower and naval power over there – why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do’? And yet, it’s sort of hard to get them to that place.”

Iran’s response was swift and characteristically defiant. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X:

“Curious to know why we do not capitulate? Because we are Iranian.”

That exchange captures the current dynamic: diplomacy running in parallel with visible coercive leverage.