Iran meets IAEA chief ahead of high-stakes nuclear talks with US

Dubai | Budapest: Iran's foreign minister met the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday ahead of renewed talks between Washington and Tehran aimed at resolving their nuclear dispute, with little sign of compromise from either side and the threat of US military action looming.

Washington, which joined Israel in air strikes on Iran in June, has ordered a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, adding to US warships and aircraft already deployed in the region.

Heightening tensions, Iran began military drills on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz - a vital global oil shipping route - as Gulf Arab states called for diplomacy to defuse the standoff.


The United States and Iran resumed negotiations earlier this month in an effort to address their decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Washington, Western allies and Israel say is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the allegation.

Oil prices were little changed on Monday as investors weighed the potential impact of upcoming U.S.-Iran talks against expectations of increased OPEC+ supply.

SCOPE OF TALKS EXPANDS

Washington has sought to broaden negotiations beyond nuclear issues to include Iran's missile programme, a move Tehran rejects. Iran says it is willing to discuss limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief but will not accept a complete halt to uranium enrichment and insists its missile capabilities are non-negotiable.

Speaking during a visit to Hungary, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said reaching an agreement would be difficult.

"I think there's an opportunity to diplomatically reach an agreement that addresses the things we're concerned about," Rubio said. "But I don't want to overstate it either. It's going to be hard."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was in Geneva seeking "a fair and equitable deal," adding in a post on X: "What is not on the table: submission before threats." Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to any attack - a move that could disrupt roughly a fifth of global oil flows and sharply lift crude prices.

The waterway connects major Gulf oil producers including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched naval drills dubbed "Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz" to test operational readiness, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.