The U.S. and Iran sat down for high-stakes talks as the U.S. builds up military forces in the region.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials have wrapped up in Oman with no conclusive outcome. Iran’s foreign minister described the talks as a good start and said that both sides agreed to resume negotiations at a later date. There has been no word so far from the U.S. The talks come as the U.S. has built up an enormous military force in the region. NPR’s international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been following this and joins us now. Hi.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Jackie, these were the first official talks, as I understand, since the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities last June. What do we know about the meetings?
NORTHAM: Well, at this point, very little. There’s been nothing from the U.S. side about what was discussed. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner left the meeting and Oman without talking to the press or issuing a statement. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the discussions were strictly limited to the nuclear issue, which is what Tehran wanted. And he added that the trust between the two sides remained an issue. You know, last year, Witkoff and Araghchi held a number of face-to-face meetings, but these latest ones were mediated by Oman. It’s foreign minister shuttled between the two sides, delivering messages.
SUMMERS: What was the U.S. looking for in these talks?
NORTHAM: Well, Trump had been threatening military action over Iran’s brutal suppression of widespread protests, but it seems those didn’t come up in today’s discussions. Trump has said he wants Iran to make concessions on its nuclear program and its support for armed proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and he wants a limit on Iran’s ballistic missiles. And these are the ones that were fired at Israel and U.S. targets last summer. You know, Iran entered into these talks in a weakened position after the war with Israel last summer depleted its air defenses. And I spoke with Gregory Brew, and he’s a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, covering Iran and oil. And he says the U.S. doesn’t lose anything by holding talks with the Iranians. Here he is.
GREGORY BREW: The U.S. isn’t backing down on any of its demands. It is playing a very strong hand right now. The U.S. has quite a lot of leverage over Iran through the military assets that are being deployed and the threat of military action. So my guess would be that, right now, the Trump administration is trying to see what they can get out of the Iranians just through pressure.
NORTHAM: Now, Brew says the most immediate goal for Iran is to avoid U.S. strikes, and keeping talks going will help that. But he says the U.S. probably won’t go for that if it just means negotiations about negotiations without Iran actually budging on any of the key issues.
SUMMERS: Jackie, any sense of what the next steps might be?
NORTHAM: Well, Iran’s foreign minister, Araghchi, said there will be more talks, but there are no details or even if the U.S. has agreed to it. President Trump will hear back from his special envoy, Witkoff, and others, and he’ll have to make the call. Brew says if Trump decides military action, the U.S. will probably need another week to prepare and plan. Then there’s the question of what targets to hit, what the ultimate goal is, you know, whether it’s a short, sharp mission or a prolonged conflict. The U.S. allies in the Middle East have expressed concern about a regional war, but the U.S. has moved in a lot of air defense systems to help protect them.
Today, the State Department urged American nationals to leave Iran or find a secure location. You know, Juana, on the other hand, the U.S. could say they’ll sit down at the table again with the Iranians to see if they can reach a deal. We just don’t know which way this is going to go yet.
SUMMERS: NPR’s Jackie Northam. Thanks.
NORTHAM: Thank you.
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