Iran president says open to “verification” Tehran not seeking nuclear weapon

• President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons and is open to international verification, even as the Supreme Leader issued warnings about the vulnerability of US warships in the region.
• While both nations agreed on "guiding principles" during Omani-mediated talks in Geneva, Vice President JD Vance noted that Tehran has yet to satisfy specific US "red lines," leaving the threat of military intervention on the table.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was open to "verification" that it is not seeking an atomic weapon, as the Islamic republic resumed nuclear talks with the United States on Tuesday.

"We are absolutely not seeking nuclear weapons," Pezeshkian said in an interview published on Tuesday.

"If anyone wants to verify this, we are open to such verification to take place."

Iran added it had agreed with the United States in talks in Geneva on "guiding principles" for a deal to avoid conflict, but Vice President JD Vance said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's red lines.

The Omani-mediated talks were aimed at averting the possibility of US military intervention to curb Iran's nuclear programme, weeks after the cleric-run state killed thousands of people as it crushed mass demonstrations.

Iran's supreme leader had warned earlier in the day that the country had the ability to sink a US warship recently deployed to the region, after President Donald Trump alluded to "consequences" should the two sides fail to strike a deal.

"Ultimately, we were able to reach broad agreement on a set of guiding principles, based on which we will move forward and begin working on the text of a potential agreement," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television after Tuesday's talks, which he described as "more constructive" than the previous round earlier this month.

He added that once both sides had come up with draft texts for an agreement, "the drafts would be exchanged and a date for a third round (of talks) would be set".

In Washington, Vance also appeared to indicate that the United States preferred diplomacy but painted a more mixed picture.

"In some ways, it went well; they agreed to meet afterwards," Vance said in a Fox News interview.

"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 "The Story with Martha MacCallum" program.

"We're going to keep on working it. But of course, the president reserves the ability to say when he thinks that diplomacy has reached its natural end," Vance said.

Key gaps

Araghchi also acknowledged that it "will take time to narrow" the gap between the countries after the talks with Trump's friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Iran for years has been seeking relief from sweeping sanctions imposed by the United States, including a US-imposed ban on other countries buying its oil.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the two sides had made "good progress", but likewise cautioned "much work is left to be done".

Washington has ordered two aircraft carriers to the region as it piles on pressure. The first -- the USS Abraham Lincoln, with nearly 80 aircraft -- was positioned about 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, satellite images showed.

Its location puts at least a dozen US F‑35s and F‑18 fighter jets within striking distance. A second carrier was dispatched over the weekend.

"A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it," Khamenei said in a speech Tuesday.

Iran has insisted the talks be limited to the nuclear issue, though Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed, including Tehran's ballistic missiles programme and support for armed groups in the region.