GENEVA: The United States and Iran made “significant progress” in talks on Thursday aimed at resolving a longstanding nuclear dispute and averting new US strikes, mediator Oman said, amid Washington’s large-scale military buildup in the Middle East.
The two sides plan to resume negotiations soon after consultations in their countries’ capitals, with techical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X after the day’s talks ended in Switzerland.
The Omani minister’s upbeat assessment followed indirect talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva, with one session in the morning and the second in the afternoon.
“We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran,” Badr Albusaidi said.
Describing the talks as some of the most serious that Iran has had with the US, Araghchi told Iranian state television: “We reached agreement on some issues, and there are differences regarding some other issues.”
It was decided that the next round of negotiations will take place soon, in less than a week,” he said, adding the Iranians had clearly ex.
The discussions about the decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear work come as fears grow of a Middle East conflagration. Trump has repeatedly threatened action if there is no deal and the US military has amassed its forces in waters near the Islamic Republic.
‘Intense and serious’ talks
A senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier on Thursday that the US and Iran could reach a framework for a deal if Washington separated “nuclear and non-nuclear issues”. The Trump administration has insisted that Iran’s missile program and other issues must be part of the negotiations.
After the morning session, Badr Albusaidi said the two sides had exchanged “creative and positive ideas”. But a senior Iranian official said at the time that some gaps still had to be narrowed.
Military pressure mounts
Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, left a naval base on the Greek island of Crete on Thursday and is expected to arrive near Haifa, Israel, on Friday.
Its deployment places a second US carrier group in the region, along with the USS Abraham Lincoln. It is rare for two American carriers, which carry dozens of warplanes and are crewed by thousands of sailors, to be in the Middle East simultaneously.
The Pentagon also recently deployed about a dozen F-22 fighter jets to Israel, the first time the advanced combat aircraft have been sent to the country for potential wartime operations, a US official said.
Democrats demand debate
In Washington, senior Democrats are demanding a public debate and congressional approval before any military action is taken.
“This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said after receiving a classified briefing on Iran this week from Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. “Closed-door briefings are fine, but the administration has to make its case to the American people on something as important as this.”
Democrats said the briefing did not resolve core questions about the strategy and objective of a potential strike.
Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it is “incumbent” on the president to explain what a strike would accomplish and how it would protect US interests.
The party’s caution is heavily influenced by the protracted conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Wars in the Middle East don’t go well for presidents, for the country, and we have not heard articulated a single good reason for why now is the moment to launch yet another war in the Middle East,” Rep Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said.
Dar, Khulaifi hold talks
In a related development, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar received a telephone call on Thursday from Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X.
The two leaders engaged in discussions about bilateral relations and shared perspectives on regional and international issues of mutual concern, suggesting that the tensions and active negotiations between the US and Iran might have been a topic of conversation.
Al-Khulaifi expressed the Qatari leadership’s keenness to take bilateral relations to new heights, which Dar warmly reciprocated.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the ties between Pakistan and Qatar.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2026
