2nd Round of Talks With Iran Will Hinge on This Billionaire

Iran and the United States began a second round of negotiations Saturday over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program in Rome, US and Iranian officials said. The talks in Italy over Easter weekend again will hinge on US billionaire Steve Witkoff, the US Mideast envoy of President Trump, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Whether the two men find common ground in the high-stakes negotiations could mean success or failure in the talks. The negotiations will again be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. More from the AP:

• That talks are even happening represents a historic moment, given the decades of enmity between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the US Embassy hostage crisis. Trump, in his first term, unilaterally withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, setting off years of attacks and negotiations that failed to restore the accord that drastically limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

• "I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon," Trump said Friday. "I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific."
• Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote Saturday on the social platform X that Iran "always demonstrated, with good faith and a sense of responsibility, its commitment to diplomacy as a civilized way to resolve issues. We are aware that it is not a smooth path, but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on the past experiences," he added.
• "If they demonstrate seriousness of intent and do not make unrealistic demands, reaching agreements is possible," Araghchi said Friday. But the Guardian notes Iran has "sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal," with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei describing himself as "neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic" about the possibility of one.

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• Araghchi met Saturday morning with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani ahead of "indirect" talks with Witkoff, Iranian state television reported.
• Both men have been traveling in recent days. Witkoff had been in Paris for talks about Ukraine as Russia's full-scale war there grinds on. Araghchi will be coming from Tehran, Iran, after a visit to Moscow, where he met with officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Russia, a member of the world powers involved in Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal, could be a key participant in any future deal reached between Tehran and Washington. Analysts suggest Moscow could potentially take custody of Iran's uranium enriched to 60% purity—a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
• Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West. Muscat hosted the first round of negotiations between Araghchi and Witkoff last weekend, which saw the two men meet face to face after indirect talks.

(More Iran stories.)