Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Geneva for nuclear talks as Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted military exercises Monday.

The US military is continuing a significant buildup of air and naval assets in the Middle East ahead of planned talks with Iran in Geneva on Tuesday. The pieces are being moved into place both to intimidate Tehran and to have options to strike inside the country should negotiations over its nuclear program fail,

Iran is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the U.S. that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday.

US President noted that Iran sought tough negotiations but learned consequences of such hardened stance last summer when the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to push Trump at a meeting Wednesday to include Tehran's ballistic missile arsenal in any nuclear deal.

Iran and the United States have yet to set a date for a new round of talks after an initial encounter last week on the contested Iranian nuclear programme but, for now, US President Donald Trump is not rushing to launch military action against the Islamic republic.

Abbas Araghchi is steeped in more than a decade of nuclear dealmaking with a book on the art of negotiations