The US and Iran are set to resume talks Thursday in Geneva, Omani mediators said, extending the search for a diplomatic solution to the latest standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran and the U.S. traded threats and warnings even as negotiators sat down to discuss a deal to avert a war, but Tehran says "we now have a clearer path ahead."

The second round of talks in Geneva about Iran's nuclear program takes place as the United States ramps up its military presence in the Middle East and Iran holds large-scale maritime exercises.

U.S. President Donald Trump is questioning why Iran has not “capitulated” under mounting American military pressure, according to Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. In a Fox News interview, Witkoff said Trump is “curious” why Tehran has not agreed to curb its nuclear program despite a major U.

Texas Sen. Ted CRuz told FOX News on Thursday night that "it is entirely possible that in the next six months we’ll see regimes fall in Iran, in Venezuela, and in Cuba." "And we could also see governments replace them that want to be friends with the United States of America,

President Donald Trump's threats to attack Iran provide little detail on what the long-term US goal would be in the event of a sustained or even brief conflict. Trump sent warships and dozens of fighter planes to the Middle East and has several options to choose from that could destabilize the region.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says Iran's enriched uranium "is still there," as he stresses the urgency of diplomacy to avert a U.S.-Iran war.