US Envoy Calls Enrichment ‘Red Line’ Ahead of New Iran Talks

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on during a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2025. (EPA)
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on during a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2025. (EPA)
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US Envoy Calls Enrichment ‘Red Line’ Ahead of New Iran Talks

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on during a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2025. (EPA)
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on during a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 06 May 2025. (EPA)

The United States and Iran will hold a new round of nuclear talks Sunday in Oman ahead of a visit to the region by Donald Trump, whose key negotiator staked out an increasingly hard line on the issue of uranium enrichment.

Trump, who will visit three other Gulf Arab nations next week, has voiced hope for reaching a deal with Tehran to avert an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear program that could ignite a wider war.

Three previous rounds of talks in Oman and Rome ended with notes of optimism, with the two sides saying the atmosphere was friendly despite the countries' four decades of enmity.

But they are not believed to have gone into technical detail, and basic questions remain.

Steve Witkoff, Trump's friend who has served as his globe-trotting negotiator on issues including on Iran, had initially suggested flexibility on Tehran maintaining low-level enrichment of uranium for civilian purposes.

But in an interview published Friday, Witkoff gave his clearest message yet that the Trump administration would oppose any enrichment.

"An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That's our red line. No enrichment," he told right-wing Breitbart News.

"That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan -- those are their three enrichment facilities -- have to be dismantled," he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier raised the possibility of Iran importing enriched uranium for any civilian energy.

Trump in his first term withdrew from a nuclear agreement with Tehran negotiated by former president Barack Obama that allowed Iran to enrich uranium at levels well below what is needed for weapons.

Many Iran watchers doubted that Iran would ever voluntarily dismantle its entire nuclear program and give up all enrichment.

But Iran has found itself in a weaker place over the past year. Israel has decimated Hezbollah, the Lebanese group backed by Iran that could launch a counter-attack in any war, and Iran's main ally in the Arab world, Syria's Bashar al-Assad, was toppled in December.

Israel also struck Iranian air defenses as the two countries came openly to blows in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, which is also supported by Iran's clerical state.

- 'Blow 'em up nicely' -

Trump himself has acknowledged tensions in his policy on Iran, saying at the start of his second term that hawkish advisors were pushing him to step up pressure reluctantly.

In an interview Thursday, Trump said he wanted "total verification" that Iran's contested nuclear work is shut down but through diplomacy.

"I'd much rather make a deal" than see military action, Trump told the conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

"There are only two alternatives -- blow 'em up nicely or blow 'em up viciously," Trump said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Oman, which has been mediating, had proposed Sunday as the date and both sides had accepted.

"Negotiations are moving ahead and naturally, the more we advance, the more consultations we have, and the more time the delegations need to examine the issues," he said in a video carried by Iranian media.

"But what's important is that we are moving forward so that we gradually get into the details," Araghchi said.

The Trump administration has kept piling on sanctions despite the talks, angering Iran. On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on another refinery in China, the main market for Iranian oil.

Since Trump's withdrawal from the Obama-era deal, the United States has used its power to try to stop all other countries from buying Iranian oil.



Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP

A UK parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had "significantly increased".

London's response has been too focused on "crisis management", said parliament's intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran's nuclear program dominating their attention too much.

Tehran swiftly issued a "categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations".

The committee's claims were "baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran's legitimate regional and national interests", said its London embassy, AFP reported.

The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organizations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks.

Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost Britain's national security against covert foreign influences.

It requires all persons working inside the country for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard to register on a new list or face jail.

"Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals, and UK interests," Kevan Jones, chairman of the watchdog committee, said in the report's conclusions.

"Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity and its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength."

Jones said it bolstered this through proxy groups, "including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organisations, and private cyber actors" to allow for deniability.

His committee's report said that while Iran's UK activity "appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China", it "should not be underestimated".

The physical threat posed had "significantly increased" in pace and volume, and was "focused acutely on dissidents and other opponents of the regime" as well as Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK, it said.

"The Iranian Intelligence Services have shown that they are willing and able -- often through third-party agents -- to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK," the report said.

"There have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022."

Similarly, security minister Dan Jarvis said in March Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service had tallied 20 Iran-backed plots "presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents".

The watchdog committee took evidence for two years from August 2021 for its report, a period which saw Tehran implicated in a plot to kill two London-based Iran International television anchors.

In March last year one of the Persian-language outlet's journalists was stabbed outside his London home.

Two Romanian men have been charged in relation to the attack and face extradition to the UK to stand trial.

The counter-terrorism unit of London's Metropolitan Police led the investigation. Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK has said that the Tehran authorities "deny any link" to the incident.