The United States and Iran are due to hold their second round of nuclear talks on Saturday, as what both sides are looking for in a deal begins to take shape. <\/p>\n
Delegations from both countries met in Oman last weekend for talks mediated by the Gulf Arab nation. The next round is being held in Rome. <\/p>\n
Since last weekend\u2019s talks, which both parties described as \u201cconstructive,\u201d remarks from various members of the Trump administration have flip-flopped, oscillating between maximalist demands that Iran has said were \u201cred lines\u201d and a more conciliatory approach the Islamic Republic may concede to. <\/p>\n
This comes amid threats by President Donald Trump that the US will resort to military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, with Israel\u2019s help, should Tehran fail to reach a deal with its interlocutors. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know about the talks. <\/p>\n
A nuclear deal was reached in 2015 between Iran and world powers, including the US. Under the deal, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. <\/p>\n
That agreement was, however, abandoned by Trump in 2018 during his first presidential term. Iran retaliated by resuming its nuclear activities and has so far advanced its program of uranium enrichment up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade. <\/p>\n
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. <\/p>\n
Days later, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the US. He said however that Iran\u2019s response, delivered by Oman, left open the possibility of indirect talks with Washington. <\/p>\n
Trump has said that the deal he seeks with Iran would not be similar to the 2015 agreement inked under the Obama administration. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be different, and maybe a lot stronger,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Comments from Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who represented the US last weekend, have suggested differently as of late. <\/p>\n
Iran has in recent weeks been vocal with its concerns about striking a nuclear deal with Trump, who it says has a history of backtracking. The Islamic Republic has also voiced objections to any deal that fully dismantles its nuclear program, as opposed to only limiting its uranium enrichment to civilian-only use \u2013 as was stipulated under the 2015 agreement. <\/p>\n
Formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal ensured through a number of mechanisms that Iran\u2019s nuclear program would be exclusively peaceful. <\/p>\n
But conflicting remarks from US officials before and after last Saturday\u2019s meeting have muddied Washington\u2019s demands. <\/p>\n
Witkoff, who represented the US last weekend, said that moving forward, talks with Iran would be about verification of its nuclear program, but stopped short of mentioning a demand to fully dismantle Iran\u2019s nuclear program, as other US officials have said in the past. In other words, indicating a deal that would be similar to the Obama-brokered agreement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe conversation with the Iranians will be much about two critical points,\u201d Witkoff told Fox News on Monday. The first is verification of uranium enrichment, \u201cand ultimately verification on weaponization, that includes missiles, type of missiles that they have stockpiled there, and it includes the trigger for a bomb.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, Witkoff later reversed his position in a statement on X in which he said any final deal with Iran would require it to \u201cstop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.\u201d <\/p>\n
Other officials have been hawkish on what the US expects from Iran. On Sunday, a day after Witkoff started talks with Iranian negotiators in Oman, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Tehran to fully dismantle its nuclear program. <\/p>\n
\u201cIran, come to the table, negotiate, full dismantlement of your nuclear capabilities,\u201d he said on Fox News. <\/p>\n
Iranian officials have dismissed that proposal as a non-starter, accusing the US of using it as a pretext to weaken and ultimately topple the Islamic Republic. Tehran is entitled to a civilian nuclear energy program under a UN treaty. <\/p>\n
The UN nuclear watchdog has however warned that Iran has been accelerating its enrichment of uranium up to alarming levels. <\/p>\n
Iran this week doubled down on its right to enrich uranium and accused the Trump administration of sending mixed signals. <\/p>\n
\u201cIran\u2019s enrichment (program) is a real and genuine matter, and we are ready to build trust regarding potential concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on Wednesday, state-run Press TV reported. <\/p>\n
Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei weighed in early Thursday on X, likening the shifting US position to \u201ca professional foul and an unfair act in football.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIn diplomacy any such shifting (pushed by hawks who fail to grasp the logic\/art of commonsensical deal-making) could simply risk any overtures falling apart,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt could be perceived as lack of seriousness, let alone good faith. \u2026 We\u2019re still in testing mode.\u201d <\/p>\n
Iranian media has reported that Tehran had set strict terms ahead of the talks with the US, saying that \u201cred lines\u201d include \u201cthreatening language\u201d by the Trump administration and \u201cexcessive demands regarding Iran\u2019s nuclear program.\u201d The US must also refrain from raising issues relating to Iran\u2019s defense industry, Iranian media said, likely referring to Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program, which the US\u2019 Middle Eastern allies see as a threat to their security. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Iran\u2019s highest leadership has approached the talks with extreme caution. <\/p>\n
In his first comments on the issue since the Iranian and American negotiators met in Oman, Khamenei said Tuesday that Tehran is \u201cneither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic\u201d about talks with the United States over its nuclear program. <\/p>\n
Israel has been among the staunchest advocates for Iran to fully dismantle its nuclear weapon and never acquire a nuclear bomb. <\/p>\n
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office issued a statement defending his aggressive policy towards Iran, saying, \u201cIsrael will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dermer was sitting beside Netanyahu in Washington last week when Trump suddenly announced the US-Iran talks would begin imminently. The surprise revelation of the start of negotiations appeared to startle Netanyahu, who has increasingly pushed for a military option against Iran. <\/p>\n
Sitting beside Trump at the Oval Office earlier this month, Netanyahu touted a Libya-style nuclear deal between the US and Iran, which in 2003 dismantled the North African nation\u2019s nuclear program in the hopes of ushering in a new era of relations with the US after its two-decade oil embargo on Moammar Gadhafi\u2019s regime. <\/p>\n
After relinquishing its nuclear program, Libya descended into civil war following a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Gadhafi\u2019s regime and led to his killing. Iranian officials have long warned that a similar deal would be rejected from the outset. <\/p>\n
Dermer and Mossad director David Barnea met Friday with Witkoff in Paris ahead of the second round of Iran talks. <\/p>\n
Earlier this year, US intelligence agencies warned both the Biden and Trump administrations that Israel would likely attempt to strike facilities key to Iran\u2019s nuclear program this year, according to sources familiar with the assessments. <\/p>\n
However, The New York Times reported Wednesday that Trump had urged Israel not to strike Iran\u2019s nuclear sites as soon as next month in order to let talks with Iran play out, which could impact planned engagements for Trump\u2019s national security team in the coming days. <\/p>\n
The Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office did not deny the veracity of the article, instead asserting that Israel\u2019s actions have delayed Iran\u2019s nuclear program. <\/p>\n
Responding to the New York Times\u2019 report that he\u2019d waved off Israeli strikes, Trump said on Thursday: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say waved off,\u201d but \u201cI\u2019m not in a rush to do it because I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they (Iran) want to talk, it\u2019s going to be very good for them if they do, and I\u2019d like to see Iran thrive in the future, do fantastically well.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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