Blinken Sees ‘Urgency’ in Resolving Iran’s Nuclear Problem

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS
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Blinken Sees ‘Urgency’ in Resolving Iran’s Nuclear Problem

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his airplane prior to departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, following his visit to the G7 summit, before heading to Brussels, in Newquay, Cornwall, Britain, Juna 12, 2021. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there is an urgent need to know whether the Vienna Talks will help stop Iran’s progress in its nuclear program.

“First, when it comes to the nuclear talks, we’re not trading any other issues or interests for the sake of the nuclear talks… Second, I’m not going to get ahead of the President. I suspect he’ll be taking this up with President (Vladimir) Putin in a couple of days,” he responded to a CBS question.

He added that the “meeting with President Putin is not happening in a vacuum. The President will be coming off of the G7, the NATO summit, the meeting with the European Union’s leaders. When we bring the world’s democracies together, it’s an incredibly powerful force militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.”

“Since we pulled out of the nuclear deal and then Iran began to ignore the constraints that the deal had imposed on it, it has been galloping forward and it’s enriching more material. It’s enriching at higher levels, degrees than were allowed under the agreement. It is gaining knowledge. And if this goes on a lot longer, if they continue to gallop ahead, then you’re right, they’re going to have knowledge that’s going to be very hard to reverse, which I think puts some urgency in seeing if we can put the nuclear problem back in the box that the agreement had put it in that.”

In another context, personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani slammed President Joe Biden for wanting to rejoin the Iranian nuclear accord.

“He’s caving into Iran before Iran even wants to make a deal,” Giuliani said in an interview that aired Sunday.

“He’s already let a couple of very big Iranian terrorist businesspeople off the hook. He’s already taken sanctions away from Iranian companies that have been dealing in oil,” he added.

“So, already Iran has gotten concessions, without giving up anything that they want to get from us. It’s the worst way to negotiate a deal, particularly with a regime of terror,” he said.
Giuliani said that Biden has “displayed a level of weakness that, I don’t know …”

“I remember years ago when Kennedy did this and made that mistake with Khrushchev. Khrushchev took it as a sign of weakness, and we got the Cuban missile crisis. Well, Kennedy straightened them out then, but I’m not sure that Biden will be able to do it,” Giuliani stated.



Top Trump Iran Negotiator Says Visits US Aircraft Carrier in Middle East

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Top Trump Iran Negotiator Says Visits US Aircraft Carrier in Middle East

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump's lead Iran negotiator Steve Witkoff on Saturday said he visited the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier currently in the Arabian Sea, with Washington and Tehran due to hold further talks soon.

"Today, Adm. Brad Cooper, Commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, Jared Kushner, and I met with the brave sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, her strike group, and Carrier Air Wing 9 who are keeping us safe and upholding President Trump's message of peace through strength," said Witkoff in a social media post.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday he hoped talks with the United States would resume soon, while reiterating Tehran's red lines and warning against any American attack.


Israel’s Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
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Israel’s Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu's office said on Saturday.

Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear ‌talks in the ‌Omani capital ‌Muscat ⁠on Friday. ‌Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.

A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted ⁠on its "right to enrich uranium" ‌during the negotiations with ‍the US, ‍and that Tehran's missile capabilities ‍were not raised in the discussions.

Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran's missiles - one of the largest such arsenals in the region - up ⁠for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

"The Prime Minister believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and halting support for the Iranian axis," Netanyahu's office said in a ‌statement.


Italy FM Rules Out Joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’

Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
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Italy FM Rules Out Joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’

Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)

Italy will not take part in US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace", Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday, citing "insurmountable" constitutional issues.

Trump launched his "Board of Peace" at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January and some 19 countries have signed its founding charter.

But Italy's constitution bars the country from joining an organization led by a single foreign leader.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a Trump ally, last month noted "constitutional problems" with joining, but suggested Trump could perhaps reopen the framework "to meet the needs not only of Italy, but also of other European countries".

Tajani appeared Saturday to rule that out.

"We cannot participate in the Board of Peace because there is a constitutional limit," he told the ANSA news agency.

"This is insurmountable from a legal standpoint," he said, the day after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance at the Olympics in Milan.

Although originally meant to oversee Gaza's rebuilding, the board's charter does not limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.