As Tehran and Washington begin talks, both sides are increasing military pressure.
02/02/2026, 10:0602/02/2026, 10:25
Thomas Seibert / ch media
Iran and the USA have started negotiations to prevent a new war, but at the same time they are fueling the conflict. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard began a naval maneuver on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for international oil trade. Regime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that if America attacked, the entire region would be dragged into war. US President Donald Trump threatened Iran by saying that the US had “large and powerful warships” in the region. But he hopes for a negotiated solution.
Protesters burn a Trump poster in front of the US Consulate in Istanbul.Image: imago
Both sides confirmed that they are talking to each other. Trump is pushing for quick agreements, while Tehran wants to give itself plenty of time to overcome the immediate threat of war. According to media reports, the USA does not want to attack yet because it wants to strengthen the defense of partners such as Israel against Iranian retaliation. But Trump won’t wait forever, said the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker: “The ball is in the Iranians’ court,” Whitaker told the US broadcaster Fox News.
Trump has been threatening a military strike against Iran for weeks and has assembled an “armada” of US warships near the Islamic Republic. He originally based his threats on the suppression of the recent popular uprising in Iran, in which thousands of people were killed.
Trump is now calling for strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program. The US president also wants Iran to reduce its missile arsenal, which threatens US allies such as Israel and the Arab states. US negotiators cite another goal as an end to Iran’s aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East, which provides militias such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen with money and weapons.
Both sides confirm their willingness to talk
Trump said he hoped for an “acceptable” outcome in the negotiations with Iran. There are “serious” discussions. The head of the Iranian Security Council, Ali Larijani, confirmed progress in preparing negotiations. Five rounds of negotiations between Iranian and American negotiators last year were inconclusive: In June, Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and government facilities, and the USA took part in the final phase of the twelve-day war.
According to government politicians, Iran is ready for talks about the country’s nuclear program. Tehran wants to prove to the USA and its neighbors that this program only serves peaceful purposes, says Serhan Afacan, director of the Center for Iran Studies in the Turkish capital Ankara. Reductions in support for groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthis are also possible.
But Iran doesn’t want to talk about its missiles, Afacan said on the Turkish state broadcaster TRT. The estimated 3,000 Iranian missiles can hit Israel, the Gulf states and US bases in the Middle East and, from Tehran’s perspective, are an indispensable instrument of deterrence: Without the possibility of retaliatory missile strikes, Iran would be defenseless against Israeli or American attacks, because the country’s air defense systems are outdated and have been decimated since the June war.
Accordingly, it will be difficult to get Iran to compromise on missiles, says Afacan. There is no date yet for a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arraghci and Trump advisor Steve Witkoff. Larijani’s reference to the fact that the negotiations still need to be prepared suggests an Iranian stalling tactic.