Iran wants to make a "deal" more than the U.S., President Donald Trump said Tuesday stateside, ahead of another round of talks with Tehran around its nuclear program and amid a build up of American forces in the Middle East.
Tehran's refusal to commit to not developing nuclear weapons remains the key sticking point holding up an agreement, Trump said at a pre-address meeting hours before the State of the Union speech in Washington, D.C, CNBC's Joe Kernen reported.
In his State of the Union address late Tuesday, Trump said that "They [Iran] want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon."
The U.S. and Iran are expected to hold talks on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland, with a focus on Iran's nuclear program. "My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy," Trump said in his address.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that he was still working on the proposal and political leadership in Tehran has yet to sign off on it. He said the proposal would consist of elements that accommodate both sides' "concerns and interests."
Araghchi added that the proposal will be discussed in Geneva and both sides will work on a text to try and reach "a fast deal."
The earlier rounds of negotiations failed to deliver a meaningful breakthrough and tensions continued to run high with Trump threatening limited airstrikes on Iran.
Following the second round of negotiations in Geneva last week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X on Sunday that the recent talks had "yielded encouraging signals" but warned that Iran was prepared for "any potential scenario."
Tensions have escalated sharply in recent weeks as Washington builds up its military presence in the region and Trump warning that "really bad things" would happen unless Tehran agreed to a deal over the future of its nuclear program.
The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel at the U.S. embassy in Beirut on Monday amid renewed warnings of airstrikes from Trump.
Last Friday, Trump said that he was considering limited airstrikes on Iran while dangling a deadline of two weeks for Tehran to reach a nuclear deal.
Iran has signaled that it was prepared to make concessions on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions and acknowledgement of its right to enrich uranium, Reuters reported citing a senior Iranian official.
The official said that Tehran would consider a combination of sending half of its most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the rest and taking part in creating a regional enrichment consortium. But in doing that, it demanded the U.S. to recognize Iran's right for nuclear enrichment and lifting economic sanctions, according to Reuters.
Oil prices edged higher, extending gains amid concerns of an impending military action against Iran in the absence of a deal. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 45 cents, or 0.66% to $66 a barrel, while Brent futures gained 47 cents, or 0.66%, to $71.2.
Further escalation could push prices for the U.S. crude beyond $70 and potentially toward $80 per barrel, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank, while noting that "geopolitically driven rallies" tend to prove temporary and any sharp upside move may give way to a correction.
