U.S. military planning for potential strikes on Iran has entered what officials describe as an “advanced” phase, with options reportedly expanding beyond nuclear and missile infrastructure to include targeted decapitation strikes against senior regime figures — and with President Donald Trump said to be able to make a strike decision “at any moment.”
The United States has assembled the largest concentration of airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion — deploying two aircraft carriers, advanced stealth fighters, refueling tankers, and layered missile defenses into theater — as multiple U.S. and Israeli reports warn President Donald Trump could authorize strikes on Iran “as soon as Saturday,” with talks described by American officials as “very far apart” and even a “near nothing-burger.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that the latest round of talks with the United States in Geneva yielded a mutual understanding of “guiding principles” for even more talks.
A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general declared the United States is “finished” and claimed that even deploying America’s entire aircraft carrier fleet against Iran “won’t be able to do a damn thing” as U.S. and Iranian officials concluded a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva Tuesday under the shadow of an expanding American military buildup across the Middle East.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared on Monday that he had arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, with “real ideas” for an agreement between his country and the United States as Tehran and Washington tiptoe towards a renewed conversation on the former’s illicit nuclear program.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization, closed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz for a few hours on Tuesday to conduct live-fire naval drills.
President Donald Trump said Monday he will be “indirectly” involved in Tuesday’s high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva, expressing confidence Tehran wants “to make a deal” while warning that he does not believe the regime wants “the consequences of not making a deal” as U.S. military forces continue building pressure across the Middle East.
President Donald Trump warned Thursday that the Iranian regime faces a “very traumatic” outcome if a “good and fair” deal with the United States is not reached “over the next month,” signaling that failure would trigger a punishing “phase two.”
President Donald Trump said after a nearly three-hour White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “there was nothing definitive reached” beyond his insistence that negotiations with Iran continue — warning that if a deal cannot be “consummated,” “we will just have to see what the outcome will be,” as the Pentagon readies a second aircraft carrier for possible deployment to the Middle East.
Iran’s ruling clerics commemorated the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution with nationwide rallies that included the burning of American flags, staged mock coffins bearing the names of U.S. military leaders, and the torching of an effigy decorated with a Star of David and an image of President Donald Trump, according to video shared by Iranian outlets and online accounts.
New satellite imagery shows Iran has buried the entrances to a hardened tunnel complex at its Isfahan nuclear site, a move a U.S.-based watchdog said signals Tehran is “seriously concerned” about a strike or raid.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that he viewed recent talks with the United States as “a step forward,” but his foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, insisted on the same day that Iran will never give up its uranium enrichment program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday as U.S.–Iran negotiations advance under mounting tension, with Tehran resisting demands to curb its ballistic missiles, proxy forces, and nuclear program following talks in Oman that Trump said were “very good.”
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held their planned talks in Oman on Friday, despite some last-minute demands from Iran that threatened to derail the process.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization, said on Thursday that it seized two vessels in the Persian Gulf that were allegedly carrying smuggled fuel. Later that day, a former Iranian official threatened to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a “place of massacre and hell” if there is a conflict with the United States.
President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “should be very worried” as U.S.–Iran nuclear talks, earlier reported as collapsing, are now set to proceed Friday in Oman amid sharp disputes over the scope of negotiations and rising U.S. military pressure.
The Iranian regime seems to be doing everything possible to derail Friday’s scheduled talks between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, including last-minute demands for a change of venue from Turkey to Oman.
President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that “a massive armada” led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is moving toward Iran and that the regime’s “time is running out” to make a nuclear deal — or face a U.S. strike far worse than the one carried out last summer.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said President Trump’s efforts to secure Greenland “could not happen to a more deserving continent.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday claimed the massive nationwide uprising against the regime he serves was an “Israeli plot” carried out by “ISIS-style terrorist operations,” and the regime has defeated these “terrorists” after three days of pitched battle.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that his regime remains open to negotiations with the United States, even as President Donald Trump has threatened to take action against the regime for killing protesters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Monday that the uprising against his brutal regime is “now under total control” after hundreds, or even thousands, of civilians were killed by security forces.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, voted on a resolution on Thursday demanding full cooperation from Iran and “precise information” about its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Iranian state media on Friday announced the regime in Tehran has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, to build four nuclear power plants in Iran. The deal is valued at roughly $25 billion.
Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The current mayor of the city, Matsui Kazumi, expressed alarm at growing worldwide nuclear tensions the day after Russia’s latest threat to use nuclear weapons against Europe.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi repeated his demand the United States pay some form of “compensation” for bombing the nation’s illicit nuclear sites in an interview published Thursday, stating Tehran has zero appetite for resuming talks with the West.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) video explicitly targeted President Donald Trump by name while explaining that the regime’s notorious “Death to America” chant now specifically means “death to Trump,” directly contradicting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s claims just one day earlier that the slogan only refers to U.S. policies, not individuals.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the eve of negotiations with European powers that Iran will never give up its uranium enrichment program.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared his country’s support for the “national sovereignty and dignity” of Iran after meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that the uranium enrichment facility at Fordow was “seriously and heavily damaged” by U.S. bombers on June 21. He said Iranian officials are still assessing the full extent of the damage.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the stalled nuclear deal talks with the United States, demanded in a letter to the United Nations on Sunday that the global body help Tehran seek “reparation” for the damage caused by American airstrikes on his country’s illicit nuclear sites.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested in an interview on Thursday that Iran will be demanding “compensation for damages” to its illicit nuclear development sites in any future diplomatic engagements with America after President Donald Trump approved airstrikes targeting the facilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, who condemned the ongoing campaign against Iran’s illicit nuclear program as an “unprovoked aggression” by Israel and America.
The UK, France, and Germany met with Iran on Friday and said they’d urged Tehran to open dialogue with the United States for peace.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi insisted in comments on Thursday his country had no interest in ceasing missile barrages against Israel, maintaining the Iranian military would “continue to pummel the criminals who target our people.”
Foreign ministers planning to meet Iranian counterpart on Friday in a bid to persuade the country to give up its nuclear ambitions for peace.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Friday offered to travel to Iran and assess the damage to its nuclear sites following Israel’s airstrikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and American Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff began a fifth round of “indirect” talks regarding Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program in Rome on Friday.
Iranian state media celebrated the conclusion of a fourth round of “indirect” talks with President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Monday, citing Iranian officials who called the discussions “more serious and candid” without giving specific policy updates.
The non-profit Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) reported that Iran was fortifying its underground nuclear complexes ahead of this weekend’s third round of nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration.
