Iran and the US are talking low-key


The US has reportedly been conducting secret talks with Iran to restrict the country’s nuclear program and free detained US citizens.

The talks, aimed at a “political ceasefire”, are a last-ditch attempt at nuclear diplomacy after formal negotiations collapsed last year.

If agreed, Iran will:

  • not enrich uranium beyond 60% purity (90% is weapons-grade)
  • not sell ballistic missiles to Russia, and
  • return to cooperation with the international nuclear watchdog.

In exchange, the US is basically promising not to ramp up pressure on Iran any further.

Intrigue’s take: This all effectively amounts to a nuclear pinky promise. So then what’s the big deal?

  1. The US and Iran are still talking, despite decades without formal ties, and after countless failed talks, and
  2. Iran’s rapid nuclear development could still be halted, after years of spooking its neighbours and the broader international community.

Also worth noting:

Latest Author Articles
The US and Iran are back on the brink

The weekend is rolling around, which in recent times has meant one of two things: a) Sabrina Carpenter is about to unveil her latest brand collab, or b) the US is about to launch its latest daring military operation. As much as we’re keen to explore Sabrina’s Pringle-scented Redken hair mist and Dunkin’ x Prada […]

20 February, 2026
The massive supply chain shortage you didn’t know about

You’d think 2026 already had enough on, but no — someone has gone out and helpfully coined an entirely new genre of Armageddon: not nuclear, not biblical, but supply chain: So what’s driving this impending RAMageddon? Intrigue’s hard-core nerds will forgive us when we casually split chips into three families: Stay on top of your […]

18 February, 2026
The country on the verge of three different wars

Think you’re busy? Wait ‘til you meet Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed Ali (above), who’s now juggling three separate and interrelated conflicts, starting with…  This one’s got more backstory than Carrie and Mr Big, but basically Ethiopia’s 1962 annexation of its neighbour triggered Eritrea’s brutal 30-year war for independence, which eventually plunged Ethiopia back into its current […]

11 February, 2026
Trump sets his sights on Cuba

There’s a real Netflix energy to geopolitics coverage right now — Maduro gets yeeted, and within hours everyone is frothing over season two (Cuba). So… is Cuba next? Let’s find out. In the spirit of casually summarising seven decades of US-Cuba history in a paragraph already part-wasted on throat-clearing, the TLDR is there’s been bad […]

10 February, 2026