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Reuters

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, even as Washington and Tehran ‍prepare to resume negotiations aimed at averting a new conflict.
Oman facilitated talks between Iran and the US last week, which a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said had allowed Tehran to gauge Washington’s seriousness and showed enough consensus for diplomacy to continue.
The talks came after Trump had positioned one aircraft carrier in the region, raising fears of new military action.
Trump, who joined an Israeli bombing campaign last year and hit Iranian nuclear sites, had threatened last month to intervene militarily ⁠during a bloody government crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran, but ultimately held off.

In interviews with Israeli media, Trump said the United States would have to do “something very tough” if a deal is not reached with Iran.
“Either we reach a deal or we’ll have to do something very tough,” Israel’s Channel 12 quoted him as saying.
The date and venue of the next round of US-Iran talks have yet to be announced.
Trump told Channel 12 and Axios that he was also considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
The USS George Washington in Asia and the USS George H.W. Bush on the US east ‍coast are the most likely candidates, officials said, but each is at least a week away from the Middle East. The Pentagon could also deploy the Ford carrier from the Caribbean.
“After the ‍talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process,” said the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei.

Baghaei said Tuesday’s trip to Oman by Ali Larijani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been pre-planned, and that Larijani would travel next to Qatar, which has also mediated in several ‌Middle East crises.
A Reuters analysis of satellite images showed a recent build-up of aircraft and other military equipment across the region.
In particular, US forces in ‍Qatar’s al-Udeid, the biggest US base in the Middle East, put missiles into truck launchers as tensions with Iran ratcheted up since January, allowing them to be moved more quickly if needed.
Oman’s state news agency said Larijani and Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq discussed ways to reach a “balanced and just” agreement between Iran and the US, stressing the importance of returning to dialogue to bridge differences and promote regional and global peace and security.
The US is seeking to expand the scope of ‌negotiations ⁠with Iran beyond the nuclear issue to curb Iran’s ballistic missile programme, one of the biggest in the Middle East.




Tehran says its missile arsenal has been rebuilt since last year’s 12-day bombing campaign by Israel and the US, and that its stockpile is non-negotiable.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to use a meeting with Trump in Washington on Wednesday to push for any US-Iran deal to include limitations on Tehran’s missiles.
Baghaei said the US “must act independently of foreign pressures, especially Israeli pressures that ignore the interests of the region and even the US”.
In any negotiations, Iran would continue to demand the lifting ‌of financial sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights including enrichment, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said.
Washington has demanded Iran relinquish its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent fissile purity, a small step away from the 90 per cent that is considered weapons grade.
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Eslami, said on Monday: “The ‌possibility of diluting 60 per cent enriched uranium … depends on whether, ‌in return, all sanctions are lifted or not”.
Asked whether the US would allow limited uranium enrichment by Iran, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said during a visit to Armenia on Monday: “I think President Trump is going to make the ultimate determination about where we draw the red lines in the negotiations”.
Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme, with the process breaking down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment inside Iran.
Since Trump struck Iran’s facilities, Tehran has said it has halted enrichment activity. It has always said its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.


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Middle East

In message to Iran, Trump weighs sending second aircraft carrier to Middle East

An F/A-18F Super Hornet preparing to launch from the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian. Photo: US Navy via AFP

F/A-18E Super Hornets fly above the USS Abraham Lincoln. Photo: US Navy via AFP 

Satellite images show an increase in the number of aircraft at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, comparing January 17 and February 1. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters 

Iran sentences Nobel laureate to 7 more years amid stand-off with US

A mural with a picture of Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

Narges Mohammadi in a 2023 photo. Photo: Narges Mohammadi Foundation via AFP

Flight operations on the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Photo: US Navy via AFP

Iran defies Trump and US pressure over uranium enrichment

An Iranian flag flies in front of the Bushehr nuclear power. Photo: AFP

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a forum in Doha on Saturday. Photo: AFP

The USS Abraham Lincoln, shown in 2019, is being deployed to the Middle East. Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Clint Davis/US Navy/TNS

An Iranian daily newspaper with a picture of Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff is displayed at a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday. Photo: EPA

An Iranian flag flies in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Photo: AFP

A satellite image from February 1 shows a new roof over a previously destroyed building at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran. Photo: PLANET LABS PBC/Reuters

Oman mediates Iran-US nuclear talks amid tensions and Trump’s threats

Officials stand inside the gate of a palace where Iran and the US held their talks in Muscat, Oman, on Friday. Photo: AP

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (right) with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Muscat on Friday. Photo: Omani Foreign Ministry/AFP

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (right) welcomes Steve Witkoff (centre) and Jared Kushner in Muscat on Friday. Photo: EPA/Omani Ministry of Information 

Ahead of talks, Iran deploys ballistic missile at underground ‘missile city’

Iranian missiles displayed in a park in Tehran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

US fighter jet shoots down Iranian drone approaching aircraft carrier

An F-35C Lightning II prepares to land on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on January 28. Photo: US Navy via AFP

The USS Abraham Lincoln, pictured in 2019, is operating in the Arabian Sea. Photo: US Navy via TNS

An F-35C Lightning II after landing on USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on January 28. Photo: US Navy via EPA

A satellite image taken on February 1 shows a new roof over a previously destroyed building at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters 

News

World

The US president warned that the US would have to do ‘something very tough’ if a deal was not reached


The US president warned that the US would have to do ‘something very tough’ if a deal was not reached.


In message to Iran, Trump weighs sending second aircraft carrier to Middle East

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The US president warned that the US would have to do ‘something very tough’ if a deal was not reached

The US president warned that the US would have to do ‘something very tough’ if a deal was not reached