Iran and the United States met for second round of indirect talks in Switzerland’s Geneva on Tuesday. While officials have stated that both nations have made progress, tensions continue to linger between Tehran and Washington.
Adding to these tensions, as per Axios, the US military has moved more fighter jets to the Middle East. Citing open source flight radar data and a US. official, Axios reported that more than 50 F-35, F-22 and F-16 fighter jets have moved to the region in the last 24 hours.
This deployment of fighter jets comes days after US President Donald Trump sent a second aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, to the Middle East.
Geneva talk conclude
Coming out of the talks, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that talks with Washington were “serious, constructive and positive.”
“Various ideas were presented and discussed seriously. Ultimately, we were able to reach a general understanding on a set of guiding principles, on the basis of which we will move forward from now on and begin working on the text of a potential agreement. This does not mean that we can reach an agreement quickly, but at least the path has begun,” Araghchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state TV.
However, when Axios asked a US official about the nature of the talks, the officials said they went “as expected.”
Tensions continue to linger
As the US continues to move more military assets to the Middle East, the Iranian government announced a temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
IRGC-affiliated media said parts of the Strait of Hormuz would close for several hours during a naval drill.
Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance has claimed that Iran is not willing to acknowledge some of Trump’s “red lines”.
“In some ways it went well, they agreed to meet afterwards, but in other ways it was very clear that the President has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through,” Vance told FOX News, adding that the US’ main goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
