Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main “guiding principles” in a second ‌round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday but work still needs to be done, Iranian ​foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said. The progress does not mean an agreement will be reached soon but the path has started, he told Iranian media after the talks concluded. Instead, Israel launched a military campaign against the Iranian nuclear programme, leading to a 12-day-war between the two countries. US stealth bombers later joined the Israeli assault, attacking three Iranian nuclear sites. Trump initially said that the US bombing had obliterated Iran’s nuclear programme, but American intelligence later found that it had been badly damaged, not destroyed.

Source: The Irish Times February 17, 2026 11:51 UTC