Iran rejects Trump demands despite ‘significant progress’ in nuclear talks
Talks between Iran and the U.S. wrapped up in Geneva Thursday as officials cited “significant progress” and announced a next meeting set for Vienna within days.
Yet despite senior U.S. officials describing the third round as “positive,” per Axios, Iranian state television also reported that Tehran will continue enriching uranium and rejected proposals to transfer it abroad.
According to The Associated Press , the reports claimed Iran would also push for the lifting of international sanctions — signaling it is not prepared to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.
The negotiations were carried out primarily indirectly, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi relaying messages between the two sides.
In a post on X, al-Busaidi confirmed that the round had concluded and said discussions would resume soon.
“We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran,” he said on X.
“We will resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals. Discussions on a technical level will take place next week in Vienna. I am grateful to all concerned for their efforts: the negotiators, the IAEA, and our hosts, the Swiss government,” al-Busaidi said.
There was no immediate public statement from U.S. or Iranian officials after the session.
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Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, attended the three-hour negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi was also involved, with Iranian officials presenting a draft proposal for a potential nuclear agreement with the U.S., which has key demands.
Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium and has appeared to refuse to negotiate over other issues, including its long-range missile program and support for armed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
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Trump, meanwhile, insists on a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program. In his State of the Union address Feb. 24, the president said he prefers a diplomatic solution.
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. “Can’t let that happen.”
As the Geneva talks unfolded Thursday, Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also wrote on X that if the main U.S. concern is preventing a nuclear weapon, that stance “aligns” with Khamenei’s fatwa and Iran’s defensive doctrine.
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He added that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has “sufficient support and authority” to come to a final agreement in the talks.
The development came as the U.S. continues assembling military assets, including a fleet of aircraft and warships in the Middle East.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Massie-led push to handcuff Trump on Iran gets Jeffries’ backing
A resolution led by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran is getting the blessing of the House of Representatives’ top Democrat.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement alongside other Democratic leaders Thursday announcing that they will force a vote on Massie’s resolution next week.
“As soon as Congress reconvenes next week, we will compel a vote of the full House of Representatives on the bipartisan Khanna-Massie War Powers resolution,” the joint statement read.
“This legislation would require the President to come to Congress to make the case for using military force against Iran. The Iranian regime is brutal and destabilizing, seen most recently in the killing of thousands of protesters. However, undertaking a war of choice in the Middle East, without a full understanding of all the attendant risks to our servicemembers and to escalation, is reckless.”
Jeffries and other top Democrats argued that any military force against Iran would be illegal without approval from Capitol Hill.
“We maintain that any such action would be unconstitutional without consultation with and authorization from Congress. Next week, every Member will have the opportunity to go on the record as to whether they support military action against Iran absent Congressional approval,” they said.
Massie cited Congress’ war powers in the Constitution in unveiling the legislation earlier this month alongside Khanna.
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“Congress must vote on war according to our Constitution,” he posted on X. “[Khanna] and I will be forcing that vote to happen in the House as soon as possible. I will vote to put America first, which means voting against more war in the Middle East.”
But other Republicans, like House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., are opposed to the resolution.
“This is not a war powers resolution, telling the President how he can protect our country. This is a surrender document to the Ayatollah, signed by a bunch of cowards, telling the President that no matter what Iran does, he cannot defend America,” he told Fox News Digital.
There are multiple mechanisms for forcing a vote over the will of House leadership. But the quickest route is called a “privileged resolution,” which mandates that a specific piece of legislation is considered by the full chamber within two legislative days of its introduction.
Before a vote on the measure itself, however, House GOP leaders can call for a preliminary vote to “table” the legislation or refer it to the relevant committee, both ways of effectively killing those resolutions.
It’s considered easier for lawmakers in the majority party to vote to kill resolutions on that procedural vote before they have to take a vote on the bill itself.
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Privileged resolutions, which are traditionally seldom used, have gained popularity in recent years as Republicans grapple with a razor-thin House majority.
In this case, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only afford one GOP defection if all Democrats vote to proceed with blocking Trump’s war powers.
Because Massie is already likely to vote with the minority party, all remaining Republicans in the chamber must vote in lockstep to block the resolution.
Trump ally Orban issues scathing letter demanding Zelenskyy change Ukraine’s ‘anti-Hungarian policy’
Hungary is beefing up security at its energy sites as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accuses Ukraine of threatening his country’s energy supply. Orbán — a vocal ally of President Donald Trump — published a scathing open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he accused Kyiv of pursing an “anti-Hungarian policy.”
“In recent days, you have blocked the Friendship oil pipeline, which is critical to Hungary’s energy supply,” Orbán’s open letter, which he published on X, read. “Your actions are against Hungary’s interests and endanger the secure and affordable energy supply of Hungarian families. I therefore call on you to change your anti-Hungarian policy!”
On Wednesday, Orbán ordered increased security at critical energy infrastructure sites, The Associated Press reported. The prime minister’s order came as Budapest accused Ukraine of blocking the Druzhba pipeline, through which Russian oil is delivered to Hungary, but it crosses Kyiv’s territory. Ukrainian officials have denied the allegations, according to the AP, saying that the pipeline was hit in a Russian drone attack.
In a video posted on social media, Orbán claimed Ukraine was using an “oil blockade” to pressure Hungary and that Hungarian national security services showed Ukraine was “preparing further actions to disrupt the operation of Hungary’s energy system,” the AP reported.
“We will deploy soldiers and the necessary equipment to repel attacks near key energy facilities,” Orbán said, according to the AP. “The police will patrol with increased forces around designated power plants, distribution stations and control centers.”
The accusations lobbed against Ukraine also come as Orbán faces an upcoming election. As the election nears, Hungary has seen billboards across the country showing AI-generated images of Zelenskyy holding out his hand as if asking for money while surrounded by European officials, according to the AP.
UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY: RUSSIA TRYING ‘TO PLAY’ GAME WITH TRUMP, STALL PEACE TALKS
Hungary recently threatened to block a proposed €90 billion European Union loan to Ukraine — worth roughly $106 billion — over the blockade of the Druzhba pipeline.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday that “Ukraine is blackmailing” his country and that Kyiv was coordinating with Belgium and the Hungarian opposition to “push fuel prices higher before the elections.”
“By blocking oil transit to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline, Ukraine violates the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, breaching its commitments to the European Union. We will not give in to this blackmail,” Szijjártó added.
Orbán also accused Ukraine, the Hungarian opposition and Belgium of coordinating to exert pressure on Budapest.
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In the letter released Thursday, Orbán, who has a close relationship with the Kremlin, also said Ukraine had refused “to accept the position of the sovereign Hungarian government and the Hungarian people regarding the Russia–Ukraine war.” Additionally, he accused Ukraine of trying to “force Hungary” into the war with Russia.
“We, the Hungarian people, are not responsible for the situation in which Ukraine finds itself. We sympathize with the Ukrainian people, but we do not wish to participate in the war. We do not want to finance the war effort, and we do not want to pay more for energy,” Orbán wrote.
The Hungarian prime minister ended his letter with demands that Ukraine reopen the oil pipeline and “refrain from any further attacks on Hungary’s energy security,” as well as a demand for “more respect for Hungary.”
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Neither Zelenskyy’s office nor the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
US Navy reduces staff to ‘mission critical’ levels in Bahrain ahead of potential strikes on Iran: officials
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain has been reduced to “mission critical” staffing ahead of potential U.S. strikes on Iran, multiple U.S. officials told Fox News.
There are now fewer than 100 personnel remaining at the facility, the officials said. A separate U.S. official disputed the other officials, saying there has been no ordered departure yet for American personnel or their dependents in Bahrain.
Ahead of Operation Midnight Hammer last June, when the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites, the 5th Fleet headquarters was evacuated in a similar manner.
The U.S. has been surging military assets to the Middle East in recent weeks as discussions have been ongoing between the U.S. and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.
U.S. Central Command said this week that sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln — one of the ships in the region — have regularly been performing maintenance to “keep aircraft mission-ready.”
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“Their experience and skills allow Abraham Lincoln to sustain continuous airpower and conduct over 100 sorties per day,” CENTCOM said on X.
President Donald Trump warned in his State of the Union address earlier this week that Iran has “sinister ambitions” with its nuclear program and that the U.S. has not yet heard from Tehran that it will “never have a nuclear weapon.”
TRUMP’S IRAN ULTIMATUM ENTERS DECISIVE STRETCH AFTER STATE OF THE UNION
“After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program and, in particular, nuclear weapons. Yet they continue starting it all over. We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said Tuesday, referencing the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer.
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“We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’” Trump added. “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.”
Trump admin asks Supreme Court to end temporary protected status for Syrian migrants
President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing for the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to nix temporary protected status for Syrians.
“This application marks the third time that the government has been compelled to seek a stay from this Court after lower Courts have baselessly blocked the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determinations regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) just before they took effect,” the filing declares.
The document notes that the high court previously issued stays amid legal wranglings pertaining to the administration’s move to terminate TPS for Venezuela.
“Both times, this Court’s orders reflected that the government is likely to succeed on the merits of its purely legal arguments—including that 8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(5)(A) expressly bars judicial review of direct or indirect challenges to the Secretary’s TPS determinations,” the filing asserted. “And both times, the Court’s orders reflected that the government established irreparable harm and that the balance of the equities weighed in its favor.”
“The lower courts’ arrogation of core Executive Branch prerogatives irreparably harms the government, and respondents’ alleged harms were inherent in the temporary nature of the program that Congress designed,” the administration argued.
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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate TPS for Syria last year.
The notice declared that the termination of TPS for Syria was supposed to take effect “at 11:59 p.m., local time, on November 21, 2025.”
But the move has been stymied by the courts.
“As in the two prior TPS applications, this Court should again stay a materially similar order with materially similar flaws. Moreover, given the lower courts’ persistent disregard for this Court’s stay orders, this Court should also grant certiorari before judgment,” the filing on the administration’s push to terminate TPS for Syria declares.
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The filing warned that, “Otherwise, lower courts will … continue to impede the termination of temporary protection that the Secretary has deemed contrary to the national interest, tying those decisions up in protracted litigation with no end in sight.”
India and Israel elevate ties to ‘special strategic partnership’ status during Modi visit
India and Israel declared themselves a “special strategic partnership” on Thursday after signing 16 new agreements, the two countries announced in a joint statement on Thursday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week. Representatives of the two countries held working meetings this week to discuss agreements spanning security, agriculture, water, development and labor.
“This is an amazing visit. An amazing conclusion to an amazing visit,” Netanyahu said alongside Modi. “It was short, but extraordinarily productive and also extraordinarily moving.”
“The future belongs to those who innovate, and Israel and India are bent on innovation. We are proud ancient civilizations, very proud of our past, but also absolutely determined to seize our future and we can do it better together.” he added.
The two countries ultimately signed 16 agreements spanning a range of topics, including artificial intelligence, cultural exchange, agriculture and energy, with Netanyahu adding that they are still working on a more “concrete” agreement.
“This friendship is built on a deep foundation of democratic and human values,” Modi said, as translated by Israel’s Ynet News. “Our ties have stood the test of time. Today we made a historic decision to elevate our longstanding partnership to a special strategic partnership, symbolizing the aspirations of our two peoples.”
The elevated relationship comes as the U.S. and Israel have ramped up tensions with Iran. The U.S. has undergone a massive military buildup in the region, and Netanyahu discussed Iran with President Donald Trump during a White House visit earlier this month.
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Trump said Wednesday that he wants to resolve tensions with Iran through diplomacy, but he also accused Tehran of expanding its missile capabilities.
“They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas,” he said. “And they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” Trump added. “They want to make a deal. But we haven’t heard those secret words: we will never have a nuclear weapon.”
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“But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror… to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.”