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US Envoy Plans to Meet Iran's Foreign Minister on Sunday, US Official Says

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
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US Envoy Plans to Meet Iran's Foreign Minister on Sunday, US Official Says

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Sunday and discuss Iran's response to a recent American proposal for a nuclear deal, a US official said late on Wednesday.

Iran said on Monday it will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States in response to a US offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable," while US President Donald Trump said talks would continue.

Trump told a podcast on Monday he was less confident that Iran will agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, Reuters said.

Trump has been seeking a new nuclear deal to place limits on Iran's disputed uranium enrichment activities and has threatened it with bombing if no agreement is reached.

Iran has long said it has no plans to develop nuclear weapons and is only interested in atomic power generation and other peaceful projects.

During his first White House term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment drive in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

Uneasy relations between Iran and the US go back decades. Tehran says Washington has interfered in its affairs, citing events ranging from a 1953 coup against a prime minister to the 2020 killing of its military commander in a US drone strike.

Washington cites Iran's backing of militant groups in the Middle East including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen to say that Iran poses a threat to US ally Israel and Washington's interests in the region.

The militant groups describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.

Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because "it could be a dangerous place."

The decision by the US to evacuate some personnel comes at a volatile moment in the region. Trump's efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked and US intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

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World

Israel Presses Washington to Amend War Plan

US President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Dec. 29, 2025 (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Dec. 29, 2025 (Reuters)
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Israel Presses Washington to Amend War Plan

US President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Dec. 29, 2025 (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Dec. 29, 2025 (Reuters)

Israeli political sources said the government is pushing back against key elements of a US proposal to end the war with Iran, describing the dispute as fundamental rather than technical.

They said three of the plan’s 15 clauses are at the heart of disagreements with the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11, citing two sources familiar with the proposal, said the sticking points include vague language on the future of Iran’s ballistic missile program, the transfer of enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and sweeping relief from US and European sanctions.

Israel says talks with Washington are ongoing and that revisions to the draft remain possible. A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government aims to end the war within two weeks.

But Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned the security cabinet of a potential “collapse” of the army as it fights on multiple fronts. Other officials still fear Trump could impose a temporary ceasefire to open talks with Tehran.

Channel 12 quoted senior officials as saying Israel would be notified in advance of any US move toward negotiations, but its influence is currently limited.

A senior Israeli security official said Iran can sustain its current rate of fire for weeks, with enough launch platforms and personnel to stagger attacks over time. Israel’s security establishment has recommended continuing the war until Iran’s national infrastructure is struck.

“If we stop now, we will be close to our goals, but there is still more to complete,” an Israeli source said.

Channel 12 reported no signs of a breakthrough in US-Iran contacts. Instead, it cited indications of US military planning for a major strike on Tehran.

It said prospects for a deal are currently low, prompting the US Department of Defense to prepare options for what it described as a “decisive blow,” potentially involving ground operations and a wide bombing campaign if diplomacy stalls and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

Yedioth Ahronoth said Trump is offering incentives to draw Iran into talks while preparing for a powerful strike, describing the mixed messaging as a complex wartime deception.

An Israeli source confirmed reports by Axios and Channel 12, citing informed US officials, that Washington is weighing scenarios including taking control of Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, targeting Larak Island, reinforcing control over the Strait of Hormuz, seizing Abu Musa and other Gulf islands, or intercepting Iranian oil shipments east of the strait.

The sources said the US military has also prepared plans for ground operations inside Iran to secure highly enriched uranium at nuclear facilities, though the scenario is seen as complex and risky. An alternative would be large-scale airstrikes on those sites to deny Iran access to the material.

Israeli media said Zamir warned the cabinet of a possible army “collapse” due to multi-front fighting and shortages in personnel and resources.

At a daily briefing on Thursday, the military spokesperson said the army lacks 15,000 troops, including 8,000 combat soldiers.

Reports added that Zamir raised 10 “red flags” over the army’s condition and warned of escalating “Jewish terrorist attacks” by settlers in the occupied West Bank.

He said another battalion had been deployed there, while the army’s central command believes one more is needed to complete the mission.

World

Israel Army Confirms Struck Two Nuclear Sites in Iran

Emergency responders inspect the site of a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Emergency responders inspect the site of a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Israel Army Confirms Struck Two Nuclear Sites in Iran

Emergency responders inspect the site of a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Emergency responders inspect the site of a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 27, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The Israeli military confirmed it struck a heavy water reactor and a uranium processing plant in central Iran on Friday, as it targeted nuclear sites in the country.

"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force... struck the heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran," the military said in a statement, describing the site as a "key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons".

Iranian media had earlier reported that US-Israeli strikes hit the Khondab heavy water complex, saying they caused no casualties or radiation leak from the site.

Work on the reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of a now-abandoned 2015 nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers.

The core of the reactor was removed and concrete was poured into it, rendering it inoperative.

The research reactor was officially intended to produce plutonium for medical research and the site includes a production plant for heavy water.

The Israeli military also confirmed it struck a uranium processing site in central Iran's Yazd on Friday, after the country’s atomic energy organization said US-Israeli strikes hit the facility.

"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force... struck a uranium extraction plant located in Yazd, central Iran," the military said in a statement, describing the site as a "unique facility in Iran used for the production of raw materials required for the uranium enrichment process".

Iran's atomic energy organization said the strike on the plant "did not result in the release of any radioactive material."

Israel and the US accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, while Tehran maintains that its program is for civilian purposes.

The heavy water plant in Arak was targeted by Israeli strikes during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last June, during which the US also carried out bombings.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the site was "damaged" during the attacks and "is assessed not to have been fully operational since that time."

But the agency said it has not had access to the site since May 2025.

The Middle East was plunged into war on February 28 when the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran, triggering retaliatory missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and several countries in the region.

World

US, Israel Unlikely to Achieve ‘Regime Change’ in Iran, Says Merz

27 March 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the "FAZ" Congress. (dpa)
27 March 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the "FAZ" Congress. (dpa)
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US, Israel Unlikely to Achieve ‘Regime Change’ in Iran, Says Merz

27 March 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the "FAZ" Congress. (dpa)
27 March 2026, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the "FAZ" Congress. (dpa)

The US-Israeli war against Iran is unlikely to lead to "regime change", German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, as the month-long conflict showed no signs of abating.

"Is regime change really the goal?" he said at a forum in Frankfurt organized by the FAZ newspaper.

"If that's the goal, I don't think you'll achieve it. It's mostly gone wrong" in past conflicts, he said, pointing to the Afghanistan war.

"I have serious doubts as to whether there is a strategy and whether that strategy is being successfully implemented," he added. "In that respect, it could take even longer."

Germany has pushed back at US President Donald Trump's criticisms of NATO members for failing to join the attacks on Iran, insisting that it is not their war.

Merz however said Friday he believed that Trump had accepted this stance.

He also said Germany would be open to helping provide military protection in the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil and gas, which has been nearly totally blocked, in the event of a ceasefire.

"This requires an international mandate, it requires approval from the German parliament and, prior to that, a cabinet decision. And we are far from that."