What to know about us is talking to Iran about its nuclear program

The brief handshake may be the most likely result of primary diplomatic talks that were identified on Saturday between American and Iranian officials.

It is possible that it is sufficient to maintain discussions, and may lead to the first official negotiations to face between the two countries since President Trump abandoned a historic nuclear agreement seven years ago.

The talks, which are scheduled to be held in Amman, will be a feeling of a feeling to see if the Trump administration and the Iranian book government can be transferred to full negotiations to reduce the Iranian nuclear program.

Both sides come with great lack of confidence, given that Mr. Trump has moved away from 2015 Agreement Iran has mediated with the United States and other global forces, and slapped harsh sanctions on Tehran during its first term.

Mr. Trump now wants to conclude a deal – whether to display his negotiating skills and retain the tensions that end between Iran and Israel from escalation to a more intense conflict that would increase the Middle East Rail. Iranian officials are skeptical, but they are “ready to engage in my grandfather Books in the Washington Post this week.

The goals of the meeting on Saturday are modest, which reflects the gap between the two sides: approval of a framework for negotiations and the timetable. It is not clear whether the envoys will speak directly, as Mr. Trump insisted, or passes the messages across the Omani mediators wandering between the rooms, as Mr. Araghchi pointed out.

The Iranian delegation is planning to communicate that it is open to talking about discounts to enrich them and allow external monitoring, according to senior Iranian officials who spoke, provided that its identity is not disclosed to discuss a sensitive issue. But they said that negotiators were not interested in discussing the dismantling of the nuclear program, which the Trump administration officials insisted on.

Experts expect that handshake Or another summary meeting will be a way to satisfy both sides and send a good -intention gesture without direct negotiations.

Mr. Trump said that it will depend on the instinct if the talks on Saturday, expected to be held in a seashore complex, may flourish in more negotiations. “When the conversations begin, you know whether they are walking well or not,” he said this week. “I would like to say that the conclusion will be when I think they will not go well. This is just a feeling.”

What is at stake?

In the case it is the hallmark of the original nuclear deal – which European leaders have been zag since 2018, when Mr. Trump withdrew the United States – Before the expiration of most of its restrictions in October.

The agreement, known as the joint comprehensive work plan that was completed under President Barack Obama, was the result of years of painstaking and technical technical negotiations that agreed to lift international sanctions against Iran in exchange for borders on its nuclear program.

Only nine countries in the world have nuclear weapons, and the addition of Iran to the list can pose an existential threat to its main opponent, Israel, and possibly other countries. Experts also raised concerns Iran can participate in its nuclear capabilities, and perhaps with terrorist groups.

Iran has long maintained its legal nuclear activities and does not only mean civil purposes, such as energy and medicine, not for weapons. But it is uranium heat, the main component of the nuclear bomb, Beyond the levels needed for civil use.

In the years after Mr. Trump withdrew from the agreement, Iran quickly rushed to enrich uranium to the point that some experts can soon build a nuclear weapon. Its economy has collapsed under US sanctions, and Mr. Trump only this week Imposing new measures Targeting the oil trade in Iran.

The government of Israel believes that Tehran will expand its nuclear program and pressure to destroy it.

“The deal with Iran is acceptable only if the nuclear sites are destroyed under the supervision of the United States,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Israel is destroyed He said this week. “Otherwise, the military option is the only option.”

While Mr. Araghchi was closely involved in the previous negotiations, the expected American envoy, Steve Whitkov, has little experience in the technical aspects of the Iran program. It was scheduled to arrive in Amman after a Friday visit to Saint Petersburg for talks with President Vladimir F. Putin about a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Both Iran will expand diplomatic talks for the longest possible period – to delay any Israeli military action and exceed the deadline on October 18 when the United Nations Authority’s power to impose rapid “Snapback” sanctions.

“They have an opportunity to link Israel and the United States in a knot by entering into negotiations, as they cleared Witkoff to think that negotiations will produce a lot,” said Elliot Abrams, who served as the envoy of Mr. Trump in Iran during his first term. “Thus, negotiations, which are launched from Israel, continue, and continue.”

He said that a new deal “can be reached very quickly” – but Iran is likely to adhere to more than what it agreed to in the 2015 agreement. Such a result would irritate Israel.

It may not be sufficient for Mr. Trump, who previously demanded more borders on Iranian missiles and the Shiite agent forces in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, to claim that he had concluded a better deal than its predecessors.

Diplomacy or conflict?

Mr. Abrams expected that Israel will eventually strike Iran. At least since last fall, Israel He was preparing Long -range missiles are very accurate, including those that can reach underground targets, to hit an air in Iran.

The Trump administration has also deployed an unusual military accumulation in the range, including two aircraft, and the additional B-2 dawn, fighter planes, as well as air defenses.

However, Mr. Trump strongly wants to avoid a new war in the region, which has Advisors have warned Siphon will military resources away from Other possible threatsLike China, and detracts from his efforts to be the president of peace.

The president really does not want to use the army here. ” Curtain boxesWho was the Pentagon’s highest official in the Middle East policy during the Biden administration.

She said that Mr. Trump is like how the last presidents dealt with Iran, and it seems that Mr. Trump has thought about “how a military campaign will look, what you can actually accomplish, and chooses the experience of the diplomatic path first.”

I noticed that Mr. Trump Plan to visit Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as soon as possible next month. She said: “What he hears from all the Arab leaders who speak to them is that they do not want more war.”

Mr. Trump said he is ready for the worst. He said on Wednesday: “If this requires the army, we will get an army,” adding that Israel “is clear that it is a leader in that.”

Iran is also the same steel. “A sign of my words: Iran prefers diplomacy, but it knows how to defend itself,” wrote Mr. Aragchi. “We are looking for peace, but we will never accept submission. “

FARNAZ FASSIHI The reports contributed.