Marco Rubio has issued a stark warning that Iran is developing missiles capable of striking the US as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.The US Secretary of State said the Islamic Republic is also working to rebuild its nuclear programme.Tehran is not currently enriching uranium, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can,” Mr Rubio cautioned.His comments came as high-stakes talks between Iranian and American officials concluded in Geneva on Thursday evening without a breakthrough.
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While the negotiations focused primarily on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Mr Rubio said Tehran’s refusal to address its ballistic missile programme remained a “major problem” that would eventually need to be resolved.The missiles are “designed solely to strike America,” he told reporters.“If you can’t even make progress on the nuclear programme, it’s going to be hard to make progress on the ballistic missiles as well,” Mr Rubio added.US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly left the talks feeling “disappointed,” although a senior American official later described the discussions as “positive,” according to Axios.Lower-level officials from both sides are due to meet in Vienna next week for technical discussions.Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described the negotiations as “one of the most serious rounds” since diplomatic efforts resumed.“We got closer on some issues. Naturally there are differences of opinion, but there was more seriousness from both sides than before,” he said.The delegations spoke indirectly for around five hours across two sessions, with Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi acting as mediator.IRAN – READ THE LATEST:Britain withdraws embassy staff from Iran as fears of US attack growBritons handed chilling financial assessment as analyst outlines how war in Iran could impact YOU’Death to the Ayatollah!’ Protests erupt across Iran as Donald Trump hints at air strikesMr Albusaidi said “significant progress” had been made.Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said both sides would need to consult their respective capitals following what he called “very intensive” talks.He added that discussions produced “important and operational proposals” on nuclear issues and sanctions relief.The Geneva meeting marked the third round of negotiations since last June’s 12-day conflict, when Israel launched strikes on Iran just two days before planned talks in Oman.President Donald Trump has given Tehran a 10 to 15-day deadline to reach what he called a “meaningful deal” or face potential US military strikes.Just over a week ago, the President warned that “really bad things” would happen if Iran failed to comply.Vice President JD Vance echoed that stance, telling Fox News: “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. “That would be the ultimate military objective, if that’s the route that [Mr Trump] chose.”In recent weeks, Washington has assembled its largest military presence in the Middle East since the Iraq War.The deployment includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier and advanced F-22 Raptor fighter jets.The jets have been stationed in Israel for the first time, fuelling speculation that the US is preparing for possible military action.Senior advisers to Mr Trump believe Israeli action first would be preferable as “the politics are a lot better,” sources told Politico.During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Mr Trump described Iran as the “world’s number one sponsor of terror” and vowed it would never obtain nuclear weapons.He also claimed Iran 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”.Tehran rejected the accusations as “big lies”, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian saying on Thursday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had banned weapons of mass destruction.Our Standards:
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