Meeting Between Two Senior Israeli Officials and Witkoff; Iran Claims Possibility of Agreement with the U.S.

Axios reported that two senior Israeli officials met with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's special representative for Middle East affairs, to discuss Iran's nuclear negotiations with the U.S. According to three Israeli sources cited by Axios, this meeting took place on Friday, April 29. Ron Dermer, Israel's Minister of Strategic Affairs, and David Barnea, head of the Mossad, were the officials who met with Mr. Witkoff in Paris to 'influence the position of the United States' before the second round of negotiations. The Trump administration's special representative for Middle East affairs, who traveled to the French capital for talks related to Ukraine and Russia, stated that the new U.S. government is seeking to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis diplomatically and ensure that Iran will no longer have the capability to enrich uranium. Mr. Witkoff, who had previously endorsed Iran's 3.67% uranium enrichment, changed his stance last week, emphasizing that Iran must halt and dismantle its entire enrichment program. Abbas Araghchi, who led the Iranian delegation in the negotiations on April 22 in Muscat, arrived in Rome on Friday to participate in the second round of talks with Witkoff. He stated, 'In the first round, we observed a degree of seriousness on the other side. If impractical requests are not made, there is a possibility of an agreement.' The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that 'we will only have indirect negotiations,' adding, 'In the first round, we discussed nuclear issues and the lifting of sanctions.' The second round of talks between the two countries is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 30, in the Italian capital, likely starting at 11 AM European time and lasting at least five hours, according to Axios. The U.S. wants this round to conclude with a framework for the next steps in negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned that Iran will retain its enrichment capabilities similar to the 2015 agreement known as the JCPOA and is calling for its dismantling. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which claims its nuclear program has 'peaceful' goals, has rejected any attempts to build a nuclear bomb and has stated that 'its right to enrich is non-negotiable.' Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Friday, citing an unnamed 'senior Iranian official,' that 'Iran told the United States in last week's negotiations that it is ready to accept some limitations on uranium enrichment but needs strong guarantees that the U.S. President will not withdraw from the nuclear agreement again.' Mr. Trump, who was a staunch critic of the JCPOA during his first term from 2016 to 2020, calling it 'the worst deal ever,' withdrew from it in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions against Tehran. In recent weeks, he has repeatedly stated that he is seeking a new agreement with Iran, with the only condition being that Tehran will not acquire nuclear weapons. Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency indicate that Iran's uranium reserves have reached a level sufficient to build six nuclear bombs if enriched to 90%. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director-general, also stated in the April 27 edition of Le Monde, 'Although Iran has the necessary materials to build not just one, but several bombs, it does not yet have a nuclear weapon.'