GENEVA: 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, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. He further said that no date had been set for a third round of talks with the US, as both sides will develop draft texts for a potential deal before fixing a time.

“Different ideas have been presented, these ideas have been seriously discussed, ultimately we have been able to reach a general agreement on some guiding principles, from now on we will move based on those principles and enter the text of a potential agreement,” Araghchi told Iranian media after the talks concluded in Geneva.

“No specific time has been set” for the third round, Araghchi told state TV. “It was agreed that both sides would work further on draft texts for a potential agreement, after which the drafts would be exchanged and a date for a third round would be set.

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

No date set for third round of dialogue; X removes verification badges from top Iran officials’ accounts, triggering surge of fakes

US military build-up

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 the “regime change” in Tehran may be the best thing that can happen.

Oil futures fell and the price of the benchmark Brent crude contract fell more than one per cent after Araghchi’s comments eased some tension over imminent supply disruption.

Speaking at a disarmament moot in Geneva after the talks, Araghchi 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, a source briefed on the matter said.

The White House did not respond to emailed questions about the meeting. Earlier, Trump said he would be involved “indirectly” in the Geneva talks and he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal.

Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile stockpile. Tehran says it is willing only to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and that it will not give up uranium enrichment completely or discuss its missile programme.

X removes verification

Social media platform X removed premium verification badges from senior Islamic Republic officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, top security official Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, triggering a surge of blue-ticked parody accounts that impersonate them and blurring the line between official statements and satire.

The state-run newspaper Tehran Times has also lost its badge.

Within hours of the badges disappearing, accounts styled as satirical versions of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and senior official Ali Larijani began drawing thousands of views and followers.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026