Iran hit by new protests as U.S. builds pressure in nuclear talks

Iran was jolted by resurgent anti-government protests over the weekend, as the United States sought to build pressure on Tehran to accede to its demands ahead of new nuclear talks amid a massive American military buildup IranIran hit by resurgent protests as U.S. builds pressure ahead of new nuclear talksAhead of new talks expected to take place this week, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said President Donald Trump was "curious" as to why Tehran has not capitulated in the face of Washington's massive military buildup in the Middle East. Add NBC News to GoogleTrump hints at limited military strikes to try to ‘nudge along’ nuclear talks with Iran04:32Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleFeb. 23, 2026, 7:04 AM EST / Updated Feb. 23, 2026, 7:22 AM ESTBy Chantal Da SilvaListen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Iran was jolted by resurgent anti-government protests over the weekend, as the United States sought to build pressure on Tehran to accede to its demands ahead of new nuclear talks amid a massive American military buildup.Iranian state news agencies reported student demonstrations at five universities in the capital and one in the city of Mashhad. Large crowds rallied outside the Amir Kabir University of Technology in Tehran, according to video geolocated by NBC News that circulated on social media Sunday. The video does not appear to have circulated before Sunday but NBC News has not been able to pinpoint when exactly it was taken.They are the first known protests to have erupted since the anti-government unrest that swept the country last month and saw thousands of people killed in a brutal crackdown, according to rights groups.The U.S. has held the threat of military action over the regime in the wake of those demonstrations, which marked the biggest flare-up of domestic dissent since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. But President Donald Trump has also pursued negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, entertaining diplomacy even as he masses a daunting military force in the Middle East.Video shared on Sunday and verified by NBC News shows students raising an Iranian flag during a protest in Shariff University in Tehran. via XTrump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Saturday that the president was “curious” as to why Iran had not changed course in the face of this buildup."He's curious as to why they haven't — I don't want to use the word 'capitulated' — but why they haven't capitulated," Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump.” "Why under this sort of pressure with the amount of sea power, naval power that we have over there, why they haven’t come to us and said, ‘We profess that we don’t want a weapon'?" he said.The USS Gerald R. Ford is en route to become the second American aircraft carrier in the region, where the U.S. has been gathering air defenses, warships and submarines. Officials signaled in a meeting last week that all U.S. military forces required for possible action would be in place by mid-March, a senior administration official told NBC News, though Trump has threatened possible action sooner than that. The USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. sails alongside fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser in the Arabian Sea on Feb. 18.Christian Kibler / AFP - Getty ImagesNew talks are scheduled for Thursday, according to the country that brokered previous rounds of indirect negotiations. Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X Sunday that talks were confirmed for Thursday in Geneva “with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered some optimism Sunday, suggesting the latest talks had "yielded encouraging signals.""Iran is committed to peace and stability in the region," he said in a post on X. However, he warned that Tehran continued to "closely monitor U.S. actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario."Addressing the U.S. threat of military action in a news conference Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Islamic Republic would "never be influenced by threats" and would "insist on Iran’s national interests."He added that there was "no such thing as a limited attack," after Trump confirmed he was considering a more limited initial strike to force Tehran into concessions.Any "act of aggression" would be met with a firm response, Araghchi said. "At the same time that we are in the negotiation room, our military forces will be more alert." Araghchi said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ “Face The Nation” that a new meeting would “probably” take place Thursday, adding that he hoped to prepare a “fast deal.”Anti-riot police near a large billboard depicting the destruction of a U.S. aircraft carrier in downtown Tehran on Saturday. Majid Saeedi / Getty Images“I think we’re still very much in a wait and see kind of mode,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London-based think tank Chatham House.“We’re lurching between the possibility of strikes and the possibility of a deal and I don’t really have a feeling right now one way or the other,” she told NBC News in a phone interview Monday. It will ta