Here's the latest
• Russia-Ukraine talks: Discussions aimed at resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine have started in Geneva. They take place as Ukraine accuses Russia of launching a large combined attack on its energy infrastructure overnight into Tuesday.
• Iran talks: US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Iranian officials earlier today, also in Geneva. Iran’s delegation will head back to Tehran tonight, an Iranian official told CNN. Trump earlier told reporters aboard Air Force One that he will “indirectly” be involved in the talks.
• Meanwhile in Washington: The Department of Homeland Security shut down this weekend over the bitter policy fight on immigration reforms. The funding lapse will not affect nationwide ICE enforcement, border czar Tom Homan said.
In pictures: Russia-Ukraine talks get underway in Geneva
These photos have been released by Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council, showing the peace talks now taking place at the InterContinental hotel in Geneva, Switzerland.
The US delegation, led by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, can be seen at the head of the table, with the Ukrainian delegation on their left and the Russian delegation to their right. Several small bunches of flowers decorate each table, and three large bouquets sit in the middle of the room.
The flags of all three countries, in addition to the Swiss flag, stand behind the Americans.
For Witkoff and Kushner, it’s a day of "dual-hatted" diplomacy
A little over a mile separates today’s two hubs of diplomacy in Geneva. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff spent the morning locked in talks with Iranian officials at the Omani consulate, and are now at the InterContinental hotel for negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.
Holding two sets of high-stakes negotiations back-to-back is an unusual diplomatic arrangement, according to a former diplomat.
“It is not unusual for secretaries of state, or other senior officials with a span of responsibilities, to deal with many different issues in a single trip,” Daniel Fried, the former US ambassador to Poland, told CNN. “It is unusual for special envoys or negotiators to be dual-hatted like this.”
Fried, who also served as the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs under former President George W. Bush, warned that problems can mount if overstretched envoys are not backed up by teams of experts. “The combination of dual-hatted people who may not be adequately staffed, and who don’t have – it’s not their fault – but cannot be expected to have a mastery of the details, could lead to problems,” he said.
Rather than this being an instance of the Trump administration making the most efficient use of its diplomatic resources, Fried said it is clear that the president trusts his son-in-law and special envoy to achieve results more than others in his administration.
“But the bottom line is, you have to judge by the results,” he said. “So far, the results are impressive with respect to the Ukrainians and the Europeans” – in terms of the concessions Washington has been able to exact – “and unimpressive with respect to the Russians, who have given nothing.”
Iranian negotiators will head back to Tehran from Geneva tonight
Iran’s delegation attending talks with the US in Geneva today will head back to Tehran tonight, an Iranian official told CNN.
The second round of negotiations concluded in the Swiss city a short while ago.
Iran to partly close Strait of Hormuz for naval drills
Iran will close parts of the Strait of Hormuz today for what it said were safety reasons as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducts naval exercises, according to Iranian media.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the exercises – which come as the US is increasing its own military assets in the region – would simulate “real maritime threats.”
Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars said the closure would be “for a few hours” in order to “observe safety and navigation protocols” in the strait.
The naval drills come as the US and Iran resume indirect talks in Geneva, Switzerland aimed at resolving their long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
The Strait of Hormuz is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and is the only way to ship crude from the oil-rich Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. Iran controls its northern side.
About 20 million barrels of oil, or one-fifth of daily global production, flow through the strait every day, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which calls the channel a “critical oil chokepoint.” Iranian officials have previously threatened to close the strait in the face of tensions with the West, a scenario that would massively disrupt global shipping.
CNN’s Anna Chernova contributed reporting.
Russia launches new wave of attacks on Ukraine hours before Geneva talks
Russia launched another series of attacks on Ukraine this morning, local officials said, hours before today’s three-way talks aimed at resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine began.
Six civilians were injured in a Russian attack on the country’s northern Sumy region, with buildings and cars also damaged, according to Oleh Hryhorov, head of the region’s military administration.
Meanwhile, at least three people were injured in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson due to the Russian attacks, local authorities said.
A Russian drone attack on a car in Donetsk region, which was transporting employees of a power plant to work, killed three people today, Ukraine’s ministry of energy said.
Ukraine said Tuesday it had hit Russia’s Ilsky oil refinery – among the largest in the country’s south – in an overnight strike. “The target was hit, causing a fire on the premises,” the General Staff of Ukraine said in a statement Tuesday.
Today’s talks are the third such round of negotiations seeking to reach a peace deal to end almost four years of war.
We’re halfway through a US-led day of diplomacy. Here’s what to know
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy, have just wrapped talks with Iranian officials and will soon begin discussions with delegates from Russia and Ukraine.
Last night, Trump told reporters that he would be involved in the talks “indirectly.” Here’s the latest:
• Iran talks: A second round of US-Iran nuclear talks began this morning in Geneva, Switzerland. The talks are aiming to curb Iran’s nuclear program – potentially in exchange for the US lifting sanctions – and reduce tensions between the two countries.
• First round: The last round of talks, held in Oman on February 6, marked the first diplomatic engagement between the two sides since the US and Israel struck Iran last summer. Iranian officials said the Oman meeting had been a “good start.”
• Iran’s demands: Iran has restated that it wants to enrich uranium for civilian purposes, but the US and its allies warn that the regime could use the purified fuel to make a bomb. In exchange for sanctions relief, Iran has offered to place checks on its program to ensure its uranium does not reach weapons-grade purity.
• US demands: Not content merely to secure curbs on Iran’s nuclear program, the US is also seeking to include Iran’s ballistic missiles and its regional proxies – including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza – in any future agreement. Iran has previously rejected these attempts, and it is not yet clear what progress was made on Tuesday.
• Russia-Ukraine talks: This afternoon, Witkoff and Kushner have pivoted to another thorny dispute, taking part in trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine aimed at ending the nearly four-year war. Those talks are also taking place in Geneva.
Ukraine talks start in Geneva, Russian state media says
Today’s talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Geneva have begun, according to Russian state media RIA.
As the talks started, Kyiv’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov thanked the US for its “involvement and consistent work in the negotiation process.”
Russian delegation arrives at hotel in Geneva ahead of trilateral talks, state media says
Russia’s delegation has arrived at the Hotel Intercontinental in Geneva, where this afternoon’s trilateral talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine are expected to take place, Russian state news agency TASS said.
The delegation – which will be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky – touched down in Geneva early Tuesday morning, Russian state media said earlier.
The trilateral Russia-Ukraine-US talks are due to last two days.
US-Iran talks in Geneva conclude
The second round of indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran in Geneva, Switzerland, has ended, Iran’s semi-official Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported, adding that delegations from both sides have left the venue.
The son of Iran’s last shah called for US "humanitarian intervention"
While we await news from the talks taking place between the US and Iran in Geneva today, let’s look at reaction to what’s happening on the ground in Iran.
The son of the country’s last shah called Sunday for “humanitarian intervention” by the US following a brutal crackdown on protests against the regime, as President Donald Trump considers military strikes on the country.
Reza Pahlavi said the Iranian people want “freedom,” and he urged the world to increase pressure on the regime. He spoke a day after addressing a mass demonstration in Germany, where he was attending the Munich Security Conference.
“As we speak, there are people that are being executed in Iran. There are people that are being arrested and tortured,” Pahlavi told Fox News in an interview.
At least 6,490 protesters have been killed in Iran since mass demonstrations erupted in late December, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported as of last Wednesday. CNN cannot independently verify HRANA’s figures.
“What’s happening, this is really on a scale (that is) unimaginable,” said Pahlavi.
Pahlavi, who is based in the US, has sought to position himself as a de facto leader of the protesters who staged the most potent challenge to the Islamic Republic in years. Some chanted his name and held signs bearing his image.
Could the US and Iran strike a deal? Here's what two former negotiators think
Former negotiators who represented the US and Iran told CNN that despite the tensions, an agreement between the countries remains achievable if the Islamic Republic offers firm guarantees to suspend its nuclear program.
Rob Malley, a former US official who was a lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, told CNN that a “short-term, fragile arrangement” is theoretically possible – one that could give both sides “a victory.”
Under the agreement with the Obama administration, Iran’s uranium enrichment and number of centrifuges were limited without completely eliminating the program.
After strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year, decades of crippling economic sanctions and the deterioration of its regional proxies, Iran has weakened - giving Trump an opportunity to extract commitments from Tehran that it will indefinitely suspend enrichment or face further military action.
“Iran could make the case that its suspension was born of necessity, given the June (2025) strikes and the unsafe state of its nuclear program and claim that it needs time before being able to resume enrichment.”
“For its part, the US would maintain that it has preserved its position that Iran should never enrich on its soil. … Both sides could describe it as a victory of sorts: Iran, by pointing to the fact that it has not relinquished the right to enrich and the US by boasting that President Trump had achieved what neither Obama nor Biden could, which is a halt to Iranian enrichment.”
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian diplomat who served as the spokesman for Iran during its nuclear negotiations with the European Union from 2003 to 2005, told CNN that conditions now are “very different” from the past but are “more favorable” for a deal where the Islamic Republic would provide firm guarantees that it will permanently remain as a non-nuclear weapon state.
“Iran’s current negotiations are centered on survival and the preservation of its territorial integrity and national sovereignty. In this regard, Iran will under no circumstances bargain away its defensive deterrence capabilities,” Mousavian said.
Malley added, “Of course, whether President Trump is open to a nuclear-only deal, or will insist that it covers ballistic missiles, Iran’s regional partners, or even its domestic policies, is a whole other matter.”
Iran's insistence on nuclear program focus could limit chance of US-Iran deal, expert says
Iran’s insistence on its nuclear program being the sole focus of discussions with the United States in Geneva may limit the chance of a deal, according to an analyst.
Speaking with CNN’s Polo Sandoval, senior fellow at UCLA Burkle Center Benjamin Radd, said Iran has “maintained a red line” on other demands proposed by President Donald Trump, including its ballistic missile program that Iran considers a critical part of its defense, but Trump would prefer to eradicate.
“The nuclear element is the one issue they’re (Iran) willing to discuss. So, the stakes for them are limited and confined to that,” Radd explained, “Now what that means for the Americans remains to be seen.”
The expert described some of the conditions he expects the US to chase before securing a deal, “It (a deal) would have to have zero uranium enrichment on Iranian soil. All of it would have to be done off site,” he said, referencing Iran’s intention to reserve its right to enrich uranium in the event of a limitation on its nuclear activity.
“It (a deal) would have to contain, or if not eliminate, Iran’s ballistic missile development, which Iran says it needs for its national defense and is its right to do so,” Radd added.
“And the deal has to put some limits on Iran’s ability to create problems abroad,” the academic said.
Iran's supreme leader to Trump: Even the strongest army can be "slapped"
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded to US President Donald Trump’s recent threats against the Islamic Republic and the US military building in the Middle East, saying that even the strongest army in the world can be “slapped.”
“The US president repeatedly says our military is the strongest military in the world. The strongest military in the world may sometimes be slapped so hard it cannot get up,” Khamenei was cited as saying by Iranian media on Tuesday, telling Trump that he cannot destroy the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei added that Iran has weapons that can bring US aircraft carriers – which the US has recently moved to the Middle East – to “the bottom of the sea.”
“They keep saying we’ve sent an aircraft carrier toward Iran. Very well. An aircraft carrier is certainly a dangerous piece of equipment. But more dangerous than the carrier is the weapon that can send that carrier to the bottom of the sea,” he said.
According to Iranian media, Khamenei made the comments in a speech on Tuesday in Tehran as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation started indirect talks with the US in Geneva.
The US military is continuing a significant buildup of air and naval assets in the Middle East amid the planned talks. Trump has in recent days warned that “the consequences are very steep” for Iran if it fails to strike a deal. Meanwhile, Iran has repeatedly said it will not tolerate threats as a negotiating tactic, and has stressed it is ready to strike back should Washington choose to attack.
Iran commemorates 40 days since regime crackdown on protesters
While talks with the United States are underway in Geneva, Iranians will mark the end of the traditional Iranian Islamic 40-day mourning period for loved ones killed during the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters.
Thousands were killed over a few days in early January, as huge anti-government protests brought the regime to its greatest moment of peril in decades.
According to Shia customs, memorial services are held 40 days after a person’s death. They helped spur the Islamic Revolution, after memorials in 1978 swelled into full-on riots that helped topple Iran’s shah the following year.
It is not yet clear whether this week’s ceremonies will remain quiet, cloistered affairs or prove an occasion for Iranians to renew their rage against the regime.
The regime will be holding rites of its own to commemorate the “martyrs” killed in the cause of “Iran’s determination against destabilization,” according to IRNA, the state news agency.
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite wing of the regime’s military, said Tuesday would provide a moment to reflect on Iran’s “steadfastness” against what it described as a “complex US-Israeli plot to destabilize the country,” attempting to smear the protest movement that swept across the country as the product of foreign interference.
Both sides must compromise to avoid risk of conflict, analyst says
The United States and Iran must each be willing to compromise on their respective demands during this round of negotiations or risk inching closer to conflict, according to an expert on Iran and Middle Eastern Affairs.
“This is the decisive round of negotiations,” Ali Vaez, Iran project director for the International Crisis Group, told CNN’s Rosemary Church.
“If the parties do not manage to, at least, get a framework for what it is that they’re going to negotiate about, and, at least, increase the common ground between them, I’m afraid the odds of diplomacy will drop significantly after this round, and the odds of war will go up,” Vaez said.
But the analyst stressed that US success in achieving a deal depends on its end goal. “There are people around President Trump who want regime change, but regime change through only using air power has really never happened anywhere else in the world,” he said. “You always need boots on the ground, either American or indigenous boots on the ground.”
Vaez said the will of both sides to make progress is essential. “If there is a sign that both sides are willing to soften some of their red lines … both sides will get more time to diplomacy,” he said, “but if it appears after this round that the gaps are too big to be bridge, then I think the march to a conflict will pick up pace.”
Who is representing each side at the US-Iran talks?
Talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva, Switzerland are being led by President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on the US side.
Trump has also said that he will “indirectly” be involved in the talks with Iranian officials.
On the Iranian side, the delegation is being led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The talks are indirect, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi acting as mediator.
Iranian oil exports dip amid heightened tensions with the US
Iran’s crude oil exports have declined to their lowest level in two years, according to data from commodities intelligence firm Kpler, as high-stakes talks with the United States start in Geneva, Switzerland.
The fall in Iranian exports come as the amount of oil sent to China slowed significantly, head of Middle East Energy and OPEC+ Insights at Kpler, Amena Bakr, told CNN.
China is Iran’s largest buyer of oil, a lifeline keeping what’s left of Tehran’s sanctioned economy afloat. Iran is however seeking a nuclear deal with the US that potentially lifts all sanctions giving relief to its economy.
The US has been ramping up economic pressure on Iran, hoping to drive Tehran toward a deal. Over the weekend, the American news outlet Axios reported that US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that the US would work to reduce Iran’s oil exports to China.
US-Iran talks underway in Geneva, Iranian media says
Indirect talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva, Switzerland are underway, Iranian media reported Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is currently in conversation with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, the state-affiliated news agency Tasnim reported, adding that Iran’s demand is “the complete lifting” of sanctions and building trust regarding Tehran’s “peaceful nuclear program.”
The state news agency IRNA said the American delegation spoke to Albusaidi Tuesday morning and conveyed Iran’s views.
Both the American and Iranian delegations are at the venue, IRNA reported, adding that “message exchanges through the Omani side have effectively started.”
What do both sides want out of the US-Iran talks?
At the heart of the negotiations, Iran seeks relief from longstanding Western sanctions that have severely damaged its economy, deepened public discontent and intensified pressure on the regime.
Last month, widespread protests sparked by the poor state of the economy erupted in Iran with many demonstrators explicitly calling for an end to the Islamic Republic.
Tehran is also seeking to avoid another round of US and Israeli military strikes, which – amid the current buildup of American air and naval forces in the region – could threaten the regime’s stability and survival.
Meanwhile, the United States aims to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, impose restrictions on its ballistic missiles and curb its support for regional proxies that continue to threaten Washington’s allies, particularly Israel and Gulf Arab states.
In the lead up to the latest talks, Iran signaled openness to discussing limits on its nuclear activities while reserving the right to enrich uranium, but has firmly rejected any negotiation over its ballistic missiles or regional alliances.
US President Donald Trump said that discussions could center on the nuclear issue alone, while simultaneously threatening military action and ordering a major deployment of air and naval forces to the Middle East.
Netanyahu voiced deep skepticism over prospects of US-Iran nuclear deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed strong doubts about the possibility of a successful nuclear agreement with Iran, even as the United States and Iran prepare for renewed negotiations in Geneva.
Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations over the weekend, Netanyahu said his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House focused heavily on Iran.
He said Trump is “determined to exhaust the possibilities of achieving a deal,” believing that current circumstances and increased pressure on Tehran could lead to a breakthrough.
However, Netanyahu made his reservations clear: “I will not hide from you that I express my skepticism of any deal with Iran, because, frankly, Iran is reliable on one thing: They lie and they cheat,” he said.
He outlined several conditions he believes are essential for any agreement, including the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran, the dismantling of Iran’s enrichment infrastructure, strict limitations on ballistic missile development and the cessation of all support for Iran’s regional proxies, including the Houthis in Yemen.
