Iran minister meets IAEA chief

DUBAI, Feb 16 (Reuters): Iran's foreign minister met with the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief on Monday, ahead of talks between Washington and Tehran aimed at resolving a decades-long nuclear dispute, with few clear signs of compromise from either side amid a U.S. military buildup.

Washington, which joined Israel in a wave of air strikes on Iran in June, has ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East in the latest standoff with Tehran, in addition to other U.S. warships and aircraft that have already been deployed.

Adding to the tension, Iran began a military drill on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway and oil export route from Gulf Arab states, who have been appealing for diplomacy to end the dispute.

The U.S. and Iran renewed negotiations earlier this month hoping to tackle their dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel all believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.

However, Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran's missile stockpile. Tehran says it is only willing to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and won't accept zero uranium enrichment. It says its missile capabilities are off the table.

Speaking during a visit to Hungary on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said reaching a deal with Tehran would be hard.

"I think that there's an opportunity here to diplomatically reach an agreement that addresses the things we're concerned about. We'll be very open and welcoming to that. But I don't want to overstate it either. It's going to be hard. It's been very difficult for anyone to do real deals with Iran, because we're dealing with radical Shia clerics who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was in Geneva to "achieve a fair and equitable deal". "What is not on the table: submission before threats," Araqchi said on X.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation against any attack, which would choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.