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It’s Not Just Talk With Iran
US President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, April 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
Two tropes came out of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — it was a great meeting for Israel, and it was a terrible meeting for Israel.
The “great meeting” people note the warm welcome and the fact that Netanyahu was having his second meeting with the president. The “terrible meeting” people note there was no tariff relief and — most important — the president’s announcement that the US is planning direct talks with Iran beginning on Saturday.
“Iran will just stall for time. Iran will cheat like it always does. Iran will use the time to finish its preparations. Iran will …” Iran will what? Yes, it will try to stall. Yes, it will try to continue to cheat. But the opening of kinetic warfare against a country that may actually already have nuclear capability is an enormous undertaking, so it would seem useful for the US and its allies, specifically Israel, to do two things first: talk to Iran while making sure everything is in place, if necessary, for a maximally effective strike against the Islamic Republic with minimal side effects.
This would seem the right moment.
Iran has been ousted from Gaza and Lebanon by Israel, which also paved the way for Iran’s ouster from Syria. There remain Iranian militias in Iraq, but it appears the Iraqis are getting tired of them.
Switch gears for a moment and consider American military activity in the Red Sea, where Houthi terrorists have been a major strategic asset for Iran for years.
On March 15, US Central Command (CENTCOM) informed us that it had “initiated an operation consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen in order to restore freedom of navigation.” CENTCOM also provided details of what it targeted: “The campaign involved a series of air and naval strikes targeting Houthi positions, including radar systems, air defenses, and missile and drone launch sites. These actions were in response to the Houthis’ attacks on commercial shipping and naval vessels in the Red Sea.”
If you read the Israeli, British, and professional press, Iran is effectively abandoning Yemen, unwilling to be caught there or resupply the Houthis.
If you look at the mainstream American press, on the other hand, that story hasn’t had much traction. The New York Times explained how much money the US has spent. The Washington Post reported from the region about Houthi casualties and how the numbers differed from the Trump administration numbers. There was a CNN story suggesting that the Houthis are relishing the attacks. CNN had what it called a “Yemen expert” to question the US endgame. “The Houthis have been bombed tens of thousands of times over the past decade and remain undeterred. So, one is left thinking that the bombing is largely performative: let’s show the world — we’ll do it because we can.”
There is likely a correlation between the American media fixation with “Signalgate” stories that claimed classified information went over the Signal system to the Iranians/Houthis regarding the strikes and a media desire to downplay any possible success of those strikes. Regardless of the truth of the accusation, or the propriety of using Signal, if the result of the operation was Iran pulling out of Yemen, the strikes were a success and “Signalgate” is diminished.
So, next, consider the coincident buildup of American naval and air assets in the region closer to Iran. The list of assets — certainly not exhaustive — includes Patriot batteries, THAD anti-ballistic missile defense systems, and military cargo flights including dozens of C-17s and C-5s arriving in US bases across the region. Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, visited Israel for talks with Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), on the regional security situation. It was his third visit in the past six months and indicates ever-closer cooperation between two countries with the same end-game — an Iran without nuclear weapons.
It would appear that the United States is planning to take advantage of Iran’s weakened position, to offer the mullahs a chance to step away, and the ability to take the next steps if negotiations fail.
Former CENTCOM commander Lt. Gen. Kenneth Makenzie, Jr., wrote in The New York Times last week that Israel’s presence in CENTCOM — rather than the European Command where it had resided — “aligned Israel with a command center facing the same problem set. That created the structure and processes that have enabled Israel to work with the US and regional neighbors to successfully defend against two major Iranian attacks in 2024. This is a big deal.”
And, perhaps, to prepare for and defend against any Iranian retaliation for military strikes against its nuclear or other assets in the future. That would indeed be a “big deal.” In fact, it would be UUUUUUge.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly magazine.
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Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced “extreme cautious” about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff.
US President Donald Trump has signaled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for around six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
“The negotiations are extremely serious and technical… there are still differences, both on major issues and on details,” Araqchi told Iranian state TV.
“There is seriousness and determination on both sides… However, our optimism about success of the talks remains extremely cautious.”
A senior US administration official described the talks as positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe “soon.”
“There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” the official added.
Earlier Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said talks would continue next week, with another “high-level meeting” provisionally scheduled for May 3. Araqchi said Oman would announce the venue.
Ahead of the lead negotiators’ meeting, expert-level indirect talks took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.
“The presence of experts was beneficial … we will return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced,” Araqchi said.
An Iranian official, briefed about the talks, told Reuters earlier that the expert-level negotiations were “difficult, complicated and serious.”
The only aim of these talks, Araqchi said, was “to build confidence about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.”
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran,” but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect talks on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion at the country’s Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, killing at least four people and injuring hundreds.
MAXIMUM PRESSURE
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.
Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact’s nuclear curbs including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks.
Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalizing the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.
Tehran insists its defense capabilities like its missile program are not negotiable.
An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile program as a bigger obstacle in the talks.
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Names Likely Successor in Bid to Reassure World Powers
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organization said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but he had for years resisted internal reforms including the naming of a successor.
Sheikh, born in 1960, is a veteran of Fatah, the main PLO faction which was founded by Arafat and is now headed by Abbas. He is widely viewed as a pragmatist with very close ties to Israel.
He was named PLO vice president after the organization’s executive committee approved his nomination by Abbas, the PLO said in a statement.
Reform of the PA, which exercises limited autonomy in the West Bank, has been a priority for the United States and Gulf monarchies hoping the body can play a central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pressure to reform has intensified since the start of the war in Gaza, where the PLO’s main Palestinian rival Hamas has battled Israel for more than 18 months, leaving the tiny, crowded territory in ruins.
The United States has promoted the idea of a reformed PA governing in Gaza after the war. Gulf monarchies, which are seen as the most likely source of funding for reconstruction in Gaza after the war, also want major reforms of the body.
CALL FOR HAMAS TO DISARM
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the destruction of Hamas but it has also ruled out giving the PA any role in government there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas, which follows a militant Islamist ideology, has controlled Gaza since 2007 when it defeated the PA in a brief civil war after winning an election the previous year. It also has a large presence in the West Bank.
At a meeting of the PLO’s Central Council on Wednesday and Thursday that approved the position of vice president without naming an appointee, Abbas made his clearest ever call for Hamas to completely disarm and hand its weapons – and responsibility for governing in Gaza – to the PA.
Widespread corruption, lack of progress towards an independent state and increasing Israeli military incursions in the West Bank have undermined the PA’s popularity among many Palestinians.
The body has been controlled by Fatah since it was formed in the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993 and it last held parliamentary elections in 2005.
Sheikh, who was imprisoned by Israel for his activities opposing the occupation during the period 1978-89, has worked as the PA’s main contact liaising with the Israeli government under Abbas and been his envoy on visits to world powers.
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3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – The third round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program has concluded on Saturday, US media reported.
The two sides are understood to have discussed the US lifting of sanctions on Iran, with focuses on technical and key topics including uranium enrichment.
On April 12, the US and Iran held indirect talks in Muscat, marking the first official negotiation between the two sides since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The second round of indirect talks took place in Rome, Italy, on April 19.
All parties, including Oman, stated that the first two rounds of talks were friendly and constructive, but Iranian media pointed out that the first two rounds were mainly framework negotiations and had not yet touched upon the core issues of disagreement.
According to media reports, one of the key issues in the expert-level negotiations will be whether Washington will allow Iran to continue uranium enrichment within the framework of its nuclear program. In response, Araghchi made it clear that Iran’s right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.
The US, Israel and other Western actors including the United Nation’s nuclear agency reject Iranian claims that its uranium enrichment is strictly civilian in its goals.
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