WASHINGTON, United States, Feb 22, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US envoy Steve Witkoff 
said on Saturday that President Donald Trump is questioning why Iran has not 
"capitulated" in the face of Washington's military build-up aimed at 
pressuring them into a nuclear deal.

The United States and Iran this week resumed Oman-mediated talks in Geneva 
aimed at averting the possibility of military action, after Washington 
dispatched two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to the region to back its 
warnings.

In a Fox News interview with Trump's daughter-in-law Lara, Witkoff said the 
president was "curious" about Iran's position after he had warned them of 
severe consequences in the event they failed to strike a deal.

"I don't want to use the word 'frustrated,' because he understands he has 
plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't... I don't 
want to use the word 'capitulated,' but why they haven't capitulated," he 
said.

"Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over 
there, why haven't they come to us and said, 'We profess we don't want a 
weapon, so here's what we're prepared to do'? And yet it's sort of hard to 
get them to that place."

The US envoy also confirmed in the interview that he had met with Reza 
Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and a critic of the current 
authorities, who has not returned to the country since before the 1979 
Islamic Revolution that ousted the monarchy.

"I met him at the direction of the president," Witkoff said, without 
providing further details.

"I think he's strong for his country, cares about his country. But this is 
going to be about President Trump's policies."

US-based Pahlavi last week told a crowd in Munich that he was ready to lead 
the country to a "secular democratic future" after Trump said regime change 
would be best for the country.

Witkoff's comments come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a 
draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of 
days.

Trump said on Thursday that Iran had at most 15 days to make a deal on 
concerns starting with its nuclear programme.

As talks between the two nations continued in Geneva, Iran's supreme leader 
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that Trump would not succeed in 
destroying the Islamic republic.

Western countries accuse the Islamic Republic of seeking to acquire nuclear 
weapons, which Tehran denies, though it insists on its right to enrichment 
for civilian purposes.

Iran, for its part, is seeking to negotiate an end to sanctions that have 
proven to be a massive drag on its economy, which played a role in sparking 
anti-government protests in December.