ediator Oman held out hope that Iran and the United States would make more progress at talks on their nuclear dispute on Thursday after exchanging “positive and creative ideas”, despite U.S. concerns about Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

Iran had said earlier on Thursday it would show flexibility at the indirect talks, being held in Geneva against the backdrop of a huge U.S. military buildup in the Middle East and threats by President Donald Trump to launch military strikes if Iran does not make concessions.

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said negotiators had taken a pause after the third round of talks got under way on Thursday morning and that the negotiations would resume later in the day.

“We’ve been exchanging creative and positive ideas in Geneva today, and now both US and Iranian negotiators have adjourned for a break. We’ll resume later today. We hope to make more progress,” he posted on X, without giving details.

BALLISTIC MISSILES A ‘MAJOR PROBLEM’

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile programme was a “major problem” that would have to be addressed eventually, as the missiles were “designed solely to strike America” and pose a threat to regional stability.

“If you can’t even make progress on the nuclear program, it’s going to be hard to make progress on the ballistic missiles as well,” Rubio told reporters in Saint Kitts.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Press TV on Thursday that the negotiations would focus solely on nuclear topics and the lifting of sanctions, and said Tehran goes into them with “seriousness and flexibility”.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been negotiating indirectly with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

The two countries renewed negotiations this month, seeking to break a decades-long impasse over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.

Israel is widely assumed to have a nuclear arsenal but has not confirmed or denied it publicly.

Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, underlining that while he preferred a diplomatic solution, he would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

He has deployed fighter jets, aircraft carrier strike groups as well as destroyers and cruisers in the region, hoping to pressure Iran into concessions.

Several countries have begun withdrawing dependents of diplomatic personnel and non-essential staff from some locations in the Middle East, or advising citizens to avoid travel to Iran, amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.

PRESSURE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE IRAN

The biggest U.S. military deployment in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has raised fears of a wider regional conflict. In June last year, the U.S. joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has threatened to retaliate fiercely if attacked again.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the biggest U.S. aircraft carrier, left port near the Greek island of Crete on Thursday bound for shores near Haifa in northern Israel, where it is expected to arrive on Friday.

The U.S. has also sent around a dozen F-22 fighter jets to Israel – the first time Washington has deployed combat aircraft to the country for potential wartime operations, a U.S. official said.

The Trump administration has not formally announced the deployment. The Pentagon declined to comment.

Trump said on February 19 that Iran must make a deal in 10 to 15 days, warning that “really bad things” would otherwise happen.

Araqchi said on Tuesday Iran aimed to achieve a fair, swift deal, but reiterated that it would not forgo its right to peaceful nuclear technology. Washington views nuclear enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons.

“A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” Araqchi said in a statement on X.

Reuters reported on Sunday that Tehran was offering new concessions in return for removal of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

But the sides remain sharply divided – even over the scope and sequencing of relief from crippling U.S. sanctions – a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

Within Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei faces the gravest crisis of his 36-year tenure, with an economy buckling under tightened sanctions and renewed protests following major unrest and crackdown in January.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Khamenei has banned weapons of mass destruction, which “clearly means Tehran won’t develop nuclear weapons,” reiterating a fatwa issued in the early 2000s.