Marco Rubio to visit Israel to update Netanyahu after US-Iran talks
發佈日期: 2026-02-19 20:19
TVB News
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel next week to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the US-Iran nuclear talks.
The US and Iran held two rounds of indirect talks in Geneva over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iran has agreed to draw up a written proposal to address US concerns but some experts say war is inevitable.
Inside a military vessel. Heading for Iran. But it's not American. It's Russian.
With war drums beating ever louder, the Russian Navy released video footage showing one of its warships docking in an Iranian port ahead of a joint exercise.
It said the Baltic Fleet's corvette Stoikiy conducted naval drills in the Gulf of Oman with several Iranian navy vessels.
The drills come as US President Donald Trump sends his country's biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, to the Middle East to join the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Despite talks in Geneva between US and Iranian officials, experts say war is imminent.
Some say the US is using the talks to bide time and build up its forces in the Middle East for a full-scale war against Iran in partnership with Israel.
The US, experts say, is fully preparing for a drawn-out conflict with the ultimate aim of regime change in Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Vice President JD Vance offered token optimism.
"A new window of opportunity has opened under which we had the second round of the negotiations with the United States earlier today here in Geneva," said Araghchi. "We are hopeful that negotiation will lead to a sustainable and negotiated solution which can serve the interests of relevant parties and the broader region."
Said Vance: "One thing about the negotiation I will say this morning is that you know, in some ways it went well. They agreed to meet afterwards. But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through."
These red lines are likely Iran's ballistics missiles, which hurt Israel during last year's 12-day war, and which Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu wants to eliminate.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview on Monday that they are not pursuing a nuclear weapon and are willing to agree to international monitoring.
"If they genuinely want Iran to not have a nuclear weapon we are ready to accept whatever verification measures they require," Pezeshkian said.
The White House advised Iran to make a deal quickly.
"The President has always been very clear, though, with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. "And Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration."
