Author: Edward Wong and Michael Crowley
Published on: 01/03/2026 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Trump’s issue was Iran’s Leadership Itself President Trump envoys negotiated with Iran over its nuclear program. But Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted much more. The giveaway came in a fiery phrase that Secretary of State Marco Rubio uttered a couple times this month. Mr. Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, said weeks ago that Iran needed to make concessions on four things. There was its nuclear program, which had already been crippled by U.S. Attacks last June; its ballistic missile capabilities; its support for militias in the region; and its treatment of its citizens. By Thursday, the Americans had agreed to focus the talks just on the nuclear program. President Barack Obama negotiated a 2015 deal with Iran that imposed strict limits on its nuclear program to keep Tehran at least one year from being able to make a bomb. Mr. Trump abandoned that agreement in 2018, calling it inadequate. Iran responded by accelerating its nuclear activity. The core dispute involved Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, the process of refining it into a more potent form suitable for both nuclear energy and atomic bombs. Through the last round of talks on Thursday, Mr. Witkoff insisted that Iran must agree to “zero enrichment” In recent years, Iran appeared to be open to settling for a token enrichment capability. Mr. Blinken said the proposal would have kept Iran at least one year away from producing enough nuclear material for Foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said on Thursday that the talks had resulted in “significant progress” But Mr. Albusadi’s actions belied his words. He rushed to Washington to meet with Vice President JD Vance in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to prevent a war. But he insisted that technical experts would push forward in talks in Vienna on Monday. Edward Wong reports on global affairs, U.S. Foreign policy and the State Department for The Times. Michael Crowley has reported from nearly three dozen countries. Related Content Advertisement .
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Summary: 332 words
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Trump's issue is that he's being exposed as a child sex trafficker and none of the other attempts at distraction have worked. There's plenty in the GOP who've had a hard-on for war with Iran since 1979. Trump doesn't give a fuck as long as it shuts people up about Epstein.