The U.S. and Iran started a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday with days to go until President Donald Trump’s deadline for a deal.

The two parties have been locked in a tense, months-long standoff over the Islamic Republic’s atomic activities and are negotiating through mediator Oman at its embassy in Geneva, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

“Iran has come here with a very reasonable amount of flexibility,” Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Iranian state TV on the sidelines of the talks in Switzerland. “We are entitled to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, that’s a right that is recognized.”

Negotiators decided to take a break for consultations at around 1:30 p.m. local time and talks will resume in the evening, Iranian state TV reported. Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said diplomats plan to reconvene in “a few hours.”

Trump had given Iran a deadline of March 1-6 to strike a deal and has threatened military action if it fails to do so, sparking fears of a new Middle East war that could embroil Israel and Gulf Arab oil producers.

Global markets are sensitive to developments as the threat of a new war in the energy-rich Persian Gulf is likely to elevate oil prices and stoke inflation. Benchmark Brent is up around 16% since the start of the year, largely as a result of uncertainty over a potential conflict.

Energy traders have been focused on signs of disruption to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway off Iran’s southern coast that connects key oil producers in the region to world markets.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have both accelerated exports of crude in recent weeks as tensions have grown.

A vast U.S. military build-up in the region, the biggest since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is set to receive a further boost in coming days when a second aircraft carrier arrives that could join in any potential attack or help defend against Iranian retaliation. A member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet, Avi Dichter, on Thursday confirmed media reports that the U.S. had stationed F-22 fighter jets as well as refueling planes in Israel.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who’s mediating the talks, is expected to deliver Iran’s latest proposals to the U.S. team, the state-run Oman News Agency reported earlier.

Deal demands

U.S. demands for a deal have varied, with Trump repeating that he won’t allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon despite its public position – long met with skepticism in the west – that it isn’t seeking one. Washington has also expressed frustration at Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program.

Tehran’s priority in the talks is the lifting of sanctions that have hobbled its economy, fueling a currency crisis that sparked widespread street protests against the Islamic Republic in December.

“Confusing remarks” from U.S. politicians “exacerbate the situation of mistrust between the delegations,” Baghaei said. “We have come here with all seriousness and good faith and we have to see if that will be reciprocated by the other side.”

Iran is considering offering the U.S. investment opportunities in oil, gas and mining, as well as aircraft purchases, as economic benefits to secure a deal, Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Ghanbari told Iran’s Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, the Tasnim news agency reported.

The last round of negotiations, on Feb. 17, saw the sides agree that they would draft texts for a deal, Iran said at the time, while cautioning that the next stage would be “more difficult and detailed.”

“Iran will resume talks with the U.S. in Geneva with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal — in the shortest possible time,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on Tuesday.

The U.S. team is led by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

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—With assistance from Dan Williams.

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