Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz Amid Talks02/17 06:04

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

   GENEVA (AP) -- Iranian state TV announced Tuesday that Iran will close the 
Strait of Hormuz, an essential international waterway, for several hours due to 
"safety and maritime concerns" as it conducts live fire drills.

   This is the first time that Iran has closed parts of the strait since the 
U.S. began threatening Iran with military action. Earlier, state TV announced 
that Iran had launched missiles into the Strait of Hormuz.

   The announcement comes as Iran is participating in nuclear negotiations with 
the U.S. in Geneva, Switzerland.

   THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

   GENEVA (AP) -- The U.S. and Iran are holding their second round of talks 
about Iran's nuclear program Tuesday in Geneva as the United States ramps up 
its military presence in the Middle East and Iran holds large-scale maritime 
exercises.

   As the talks began, Iranian media announced that Iran had fired live 
missiles toward the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had announced a maritime military 
exercise on Monday in waterways that are crucial international trade routes 
through which 20% of the world's oil passes.

   The semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to the paramilitary 
Revolutionary Guard, said missiles launched inside Iran and along its coast had 
struck their targets in the Strait of Hormuz.

   Iranian state TV reported Tuesday that the negotiations with the U.S. will 
be indirect and will focus only on Iran's nuclear program, not domestic 
policies including its bloody crackdown on protesters last month.

   U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel 
Iran to agree to constrain its nuclear program. Iran has said it would respond 
with an attack of its own. Trump has also threatened Iran over its deadly 
crackdown on recent nationwide protests.

   The first round of talks Feb. 6 were held in Oman, a sultanate on the 
eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, and were indirect. Similarly to the last 
round of talks, the Iranians appeared to be meeting with Omani mediators 
separately from the Americans on Tuesday.

   Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were traveling for the new 
round of talks. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Budapest, 
Hungary, said Monday that the U.S. hopes to achieve a deal with Iran, despite 
the difficulties. "I'm not going to prejudge these talks," Rubio said. "The 
president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things."

   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the talks for Iran, 
met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency Monday in Geneva.

   "I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal," 
Araghchi wrote on X. "What is not on the table: submission before threats."

   Talking to reporters Monday night aboard Air Force One on his way to 
Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said he planned to be involved in the 
talks, at least indirectly. "I think they want to make a deal. I don't think 
they want the consequences of not making a deal," he said.

   The U.S. is also hosting talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine in 
Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the 
all-out Russian invasion of its neighbor.

   Iran fires missiles into Strait of Hormuz in drill

   The semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to the paramilitary 
Revolutionary Guard, said missiles launched inside Iran and along its coast had 
struck their targets in the Strait of Hormuz.

   Iran had announced that the Revolutionary Guard started a drill early Monday 
morning in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, which 
are crucial international shipping routes.

   It is the second time in recent weeks that Iran has held a live fire drill 
in the Strait of Hormuz.

   Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stepped up his warnings to the 
U.S. over its buildup of military forces in the Middle East. "Of course a 
warship is a dangerous apparatus, but more dangerous than the warship is the 
weapon that can sink the warship into the depths of the sea," Khamanei said, 
Iranian state TV reported.

   He also warned the U.S. that "forcing the result of talks in advance is a 
wrong and foolish job."

   Drill comes as US increases military presence

   Last week, Trump said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft 
carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to join other 
warships and military assets the U.S. has built up in the region.

   The Ford, whose new deployment was first reported by The New York Times, 
will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile 
destroyers, which have been in the region for over two weeks. U.S. forces 
already have shot down an Iranian drone that approached the Lincoln on the same 
day last week that Iran tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of 
Hormuz.

   Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional 
conflict in a Mideast still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

   The Trump administration is seeking a deal to limit Iran's nuclear program 
and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it is not pursuing 
weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment or hand 
over its supply of uranium.

   The U.S. and Iran were in the middle of months of meetings when Israel's 
launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June instantly halted the talks. 
The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many 
of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel's 
attacks decimated Iran's air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile 
arsenal as well.

   Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Before the 
June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical 
step away from weapons-grade levels.

   Iran marks 40 days since deadliest part of protest crackdowns

   Iran is marking 40 days, the traditional Muslim mourning period, since one 
of the deadliest days in the crackdown on protests that swept the country last 
month. Activists say at least 7,015 people have been killed, many in a bloody 
crackdown overnight between Jan. 8 and 9.

   The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which offered the latest 
figures, has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest 
in Iran and relies on a network of activists in the country to verify deaths.

   The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, 
given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in 
Iran.

   Iran's state news agency said the government would hold a memorial marking 
40 days at the Grand Mosalla mosque in Tehran, and blamed the demonstrations on 
"violent actions by armed groups allegedly directed by foreign intelligence 
agencies."