Donald Trump’s peace envoys are locked in high-stakes nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday with the Iranians as the president makes a final push for diplomacy while one of America’s largest warships steams toward the Middle East.
The USS General Ford will arrive to the region on Friday equipped with 5,000 US servicemembers, as well as an array of advance aerial and navy firepower.
The talks are seen as the administration’s last-ditch effort to peacefully defuse military tensions with Iran, according to Axios.
Trump said in his State of the Union address that he wants to strike a deal with the Ayatollah guaranteeing Tehran will never develop a nuclear bomb, but warned he is prepared for war if diplomacy fails.
The US has also sent advanced F-22 Raptor fighter jets to Israel on standby for deployment, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The latest round of negotiations are currently paused but will resume later today as an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said an ‘immediate agreement’ could potentially be reached.
Trump’s peace envoy, led by Ambassador Steve Witkoff and the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, are demanding Tehran abandon their enriched uranium stockpile and agree any future nuclear deal will remain in effect indefinitely.
The President, meanwhile, has assembled the largest military build-up in the Middle East not seen since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The military surge is widely viewed as an effort to pressure Iran into quickly agreeing to a long-term nuclear deal.
