Iran's deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, declared Tuesday that Tehran is prepared to do "whatever it takes" to secure a nuclear agreement with the United States, just days before American negotiators arrive in Geneva for a critical round of talks.
According to Reuters, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to meet with an Iranian delegation in Geneva on Thursday. The meeting follows earlier talks held in Muscat, where the two met with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in early February.
The Iranian overtures come after President Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday that "it will be a very bad day" for Iran if it can't strike a deal, Fox News reported.
Tehran's Sudden Eagerness
Takht-Ravanchi's full remarks carried the unmistakable tone of a regime feeling the pressure:
"We are ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We will do whatever it takes to make this happen. We will enter the negotiating room in Geneva with complete honesty and good faith."
"Complete honesty and good faith" from a regime that spent decades deceiving international inspectors and enriching uranium far beyond any civilian need. The phrase lands differently when you know the history.
But Takht-Ravanchi didn't stop at olive branches. He also issued a warning, calling a U.S. attack on Iran "a real gamble" and promising Tehran would respond to any aggression "according to our defense plans." This is the Iranian negotiating playbook distilled to its essence: extend one hand while balling the other into a fist.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi struck a similar chord in a series of posts on X Tuesday, framing the upcoming round as a continuation of prior progress:
"We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests. A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority."
Araghchi also declared that Iran "will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon," while simultaneously insisting on its right to "harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology." That distinction has been doing a lot of heavy lifting for Tehran for a very long time.
The American Position
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the administration's posture clear Tuesday morning: President Trump's first option for Iran is "always diplomacy," but he is "willing to use the lethal force of the United States military if necessary."
There is no ambiguity in that formulation. Diplomacy leads, but force waits in the wings. It is exactly the kind of dual-track pressure that moves to the negotiating table, and the Iranian rhetoric this week suggests it's working.
Regimes like Iran's do not rush to the microphone proclaiming their eagerness for a deal when they feel comfortable with the status quo. They do it when the cost of stalling starts to outweigh the benefit. Trump's Truth Social post, blunt as always, clearly recalibrated Tehran's sense of urgency. A four-word warning accomplished what years of European shuttle diplomacy could not.
Reading Between the Lines
The sheer volume of Iranian public statements this week is itself revealing. When a government floods the zone with conciliatory language while keeping its threats carefully hypothetical, it is signaling to its domestic audience as much as to the other side. Tehran needs to look strong at home while making clear to Washington that it's ready to talk.
Araghchi's insistence that Iran brings "courage to the negotiating table" is the kind of rhetoric designed for internal consumption. Iranian leadership cannot afford to look like it's capitulating. But the substance of the messaging points in one direction: toward a deal.
What 'Peaceful Nuclear Technology' Actually Means
The perennial sticking point remains Iran's enrichment capabilities. Araghchi's formulation that Iran will never "forgo our right to harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology" is diplomatic code for: we intend to keep enriching uranium. Every previous negotiation has stumbled over this exact language, because the infrastructure for "peaceful" enrichment and weapons-grade enrichment is largely the same.
The question for Thursday's meeting in Geneva is whether Iran is willing to accept verification and limitation terms with real teeth, or whether this is another round of performative diplomacy designed to buy time. Experience counsels skepticism. But past administrations also lacked the credibility on military options that this one carries.
The Leverage That Matters
What separates this moment from previous rounds of nuclear diplomacy is straightforward: Iran believes the threat is real. The combination of maximum pressure sanctions, military positioning, and a president who has demonstrated willingness to act creates a negotiating environment that no amount of European mediation ever could.
Diplomacy works when both sides believe the alternative is worse. Tehran's sudden eagerness suggests that, for the first time in years, it does.
Geneva on Thursday will reveal whether Iran's words carry weight or whether they're just words. The administration arrives with leverage. Iran arrives with urgency. That's not a bad starting position.
