Iran parried President Donald Trump’s pressure tactics Wednesday ahead of critical nuclear talks in Geneva, alternating between calling his remarks “big lies" and suggesting that “honorable diplomacy" could yield an agreement.
The remarks by two Iranian officials ahead of Thursday's talks come as America has assembled its biggest deployment of aircraft and warships to the Middle East in decades, part of Trump's efforts to get a deal while Iran struggles at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month.
If the negotiations fail, Trump repeatedly has threatened to attack Iran – something Mideast nations fear could spiral into a new regional war as the embers of Israel's two-year genocidal war on Gaza still smolder.
Already, Iran has said all U.S. military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk the tens of thousands of American service members in the region.
Satellite photos shot Tuesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press appeared to show American vessels typically docked in Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, all out at sea.
