The China Mail - Iran, United States set for new talks in Geneva

Mediated by Oman, the recently resumed discussions are aimed at averting the possibility of US military action, with Tehran expressing cautious optimism at Washington's "more realistic" position on its nuclear programme.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily against Iran, first over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month and then more recently over its nuclear programme.

A previous attempt at diplomacy collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran in June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.

"A cautious assessment is that, from the discussions that have taken place in Muscat to date, at least what we have been told is that the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency.

According to Tehran, Tuesday's talks in Switzerland will also be mediated by Oman.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi in Geneva on Monday to discuss his country's position "regarding nuclear issues and sanctions relief".

He also stressed Tehran's "seriousness in using result-oriented diplomacy to secure the legitimate interests and rights of the Iranian people" and preserve peace in the region, according to a ministry statement.

Iran has insisted that the discussions be limited to the nuclear issue, though Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed, including its ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region.

- War games -

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of the military, began a series of war games on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz to prepare for "potential security and military threats", Iranian state TV said.

Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a strategic route for oil and liquified natural gas, as both sides ramp up pressure with talks set to resume.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday: "We're hopeful there's a deal."

"The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things."

Araghchi, meanwhile, said on X that he too had come to "Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal", but added there would be no "submission before threats".

The foreign minister also said he was meeting in Geneva with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, "for deep technical discussion".

The West fears the programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.

- Regime change? -

Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House confirmed on Sunday.

On Friday, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure.

The first carrier dispatched to the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln, was positioned about 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, new satellite images showed.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC that Tehran would consider compromises on its uranium stockpile if Washington lifted sanctions that have crippled the country's economy.

"If we see the sincerity on their (American) part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement," he said.

W.Tam--ThChM