It took years of painstaking negotiations to reach the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. So can Washington and Tehran now really do a deal in weeks?
On a trip to China, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi talking up chances of an agreement with the Trump administration. His government’s even suggested an arms deal, this despite the absence of diplomatic relations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. What’s on the table in the talks that resume Saturday in Oman?
And should we be connecting the dots between US negotiator Steve Witkoff’s previous stopover in Moscow, where he’s haggling with the Kremlin over Ukraine. After all, Russia’s just ratified its strategic partnership deal with Iran. Are the two files separate… or is this two-for-one bargaining by a Trump administration angling for quick results?
And then there’s Trump’s biggest allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Both oppose Iran getting the bomb. Recently, the U-S president reportedly even had to rein in Israeli plans to bomb key Iranian sites. Would we now be looking at a safer region… or a Middle East nuclear arms race?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Alessandro Xenos.
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Bertrand BESANCENOT French diplomat; former French ambassador to Qatar and Saudi Arabia
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Rina BASSIST International correspondent for the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation
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Behnam BEN TALEBLU Senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank
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Sanam VAKIL Senior Research Fellow , Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme, Chatham House
English (US) · 