US presses missile issue ahead of indirect Iran talks

rte.ie · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Updated / Thursday, 26 Feb 2026 02:24 Donald Trump said Iran had 'already developed missiles that can threaten Europe' and US bases overseas The United States and Iran are set to hold indirect talks in Switzerland that aim to strike a deal to avert fresh conflict and bring an end to weeks of threats. The new round of negotiations in Geneva comes after the US carried out a massive military build-up in the region and US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if a deal is not reached. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Mr Trump accused Iran of "pursuing sinister nuclear ambitions". He also claimed Tehran had "already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America". The Iranian foreign ministry called these claims "big lies". The maximum range of Iran's missiles is 2,000km, according to what Iran has publicly disclosed. However, the US Congressional Research Service estimates they top out at about 3,000km - less than a third of the distance to the continental United States. Marco Rubio has warned Iran must also negotiate on its missile programme The dispute between the countries mostly revolves around Iran's nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb, but Tehran insists is peaceful. However, the US has also been pushing to discuss Iran's ballistic missile programme and Iran's support for armed groups hostile towards Israel. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran must also negotiate on its missile programme, calling Tehran's refusal to discuss ballistic weapons "a big, big problem" on the eve of the talks. He added: "The president wants diplomatic solutions." Iran has taken anything beyond the nuclear issue off the negotiating table and has demanded that the US sanctions crippling its economy be part of any agreement. Abbas Araghchi said a deal was 'within reach' Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said yesterday that he had a "favourable outlook for the negotiations" that could finally "move beyond this 'neither war nor peace' situation". Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the Iranian delegation at the talks, has called them "a historic opportunity", adding that a deal was "within reach". The US will be represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka. The two countries held talks earlier this month in Oman, which is mediating the negotiations, then gathered for a second round in Geneva last week. A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that the US briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. In January, fresh tensions between the US and Iran emerged after Tehran engaged in a crackdown on widespread protests that have posed one of the greatest challenges to the Islamic Republic of Iran since its inception. President Trump has threatened several times to intervene to "help" the Iranian people. Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that "the region seems to expect a war at this point". In January, there was "a big push by a number of Middle Eastern states to convince the US not to" strike Iran, he said. "But there's a lot of apprehension at this point because the expectation is that this time" a war would be "bigger" than the one in June, he added. Tehran residents who spoke to AFP were divided as to whether there would be renewed conflict. Homemaker Tayebeh noted that Mr Trump had "said that war would be very bad for Iran". The 60-year-old said: "There would be famine and people would suffer a lot. "People are suffering now, but at least with war, our fate might be clear."