PARIS/ TEHRAN — The United States will deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons "one way or the other", US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned on Wednesday.

 

"They've been very clear about what they would do with nuclear weapons. It's entirely unacceptable," Wright told reporters in Paris on the sidelines of meetings of the International Energy Agency.

 

"So one way or the other, we are going to end, deter Iran's march towards a nuclear weapon," Wright said.

 

US and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva on Tuesday aimed at averting the possibility of US military intervention to curb Tehran's nuclear programme.

 

Iran said following the talks that they had agreed on "guiding principles" for a deal to avoid conflict.

 

US Vice President JD Vance, however, said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's red lines.

 

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran was "drafting" a framework for future talks with Washington, during a phone call with the UN nuclear watchdog.

 

In the call with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Araghchi "stressed the Islamic Republic of Iran's focus on drafting an initial and coherent framework to advance future talks", according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry.

 

The phone call came a day after a second round of Oman-mediated negotiations between Iran and the United States in Geneva.

 

Araghchi said on Tuesday that Tehran had agreed with Washington on "guiding principles" for a deal to avoid conflict, but US Vice President JD Vance said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's "red lines".

 

Earlier on Wednesday, Reza Najafi, Iran's permanent representative to the IAEA in Vienna, held a joint meeting with Grossi and the ambassadors of allied countries China and Russia "to exchange views" on the upcoming session of the agency's Board of Governors meetings and "developments related to Iran"s nuclear programme", Iran's mission in Vienna said on X.

 

Tehran has suspended some cooperation with the IAEA and restricted the watchdog's inspectors from accessing sites bombed by Israel and the United States during a 12-day war in June, accusing the UN body of bias and of failing to condemn the strikes.

 

Diplomatic efforts are underway to avert the possibility of US military intervention in Iran amid Washington's military build-up in the region in recent weeks.