IRAN`S Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff met at the negotiating table in Rome yesterday to take forward `positive` talks on Tehran`s nuclear programme initiated last week in, and mediated by, Oman.

However, there is little clarity on what the process will deliver, although the two sides have reportedly agreed to task experts to discuss a framework for a potential deal in Oman next week.

With Donald Trump at the helm in the US, policies, particularly foreign policy, may appear chaotic but are generally formulated to uphold the interests of the apartheid state of Israel, as big donors to American politicians` election campaigns-presidentialcandidatesor Congressional demand and get their pound of flesh.

This was evident in the fate of the Gaza ceasefire, which went into effect to coincide with Trump`s inauguration at his insistence, because he was keen to be seen as a peacemaker-president, despite Israeli reticence. The US envoy`s armtwisting worked. But only for a while.

A lot of lobbying takes place behind closed doors away from the public eye as must have happened in this case too. The result: Israel unilaterally violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement and changed goalposts, before resuming its genocidal military campaign in Gaza.

Credible third-party statistics say most Israeli air strikes post-ceasefire have targeted women and children. Rescue workers have also been attacked; in one incident alone 15 of them were ambushed and killed by the occupation forces.

A cover-up attempt failed because one of the murdered ambulance workers` mobile phone recorded the whole incident. It exposed Israel`s lie that the ambulances were moving suspiciously, without lights or beacons. The video was found in the phone buried in a shallow grave with the paramedic.

Of course, no outrage was expressed by any democratic Western government. Such is Israel and its backers` influence that from the US to the UK to Germany in the EU, the right to protest one of the most fundamental human rights is being trampled upon in the name of `antisemitism`.

The tragedy of the Holocaust is too recent a crime against humanity to be forgotten, and nobody can support bias of any kind; but it is far too convenient, and wrong to label any criticism ofthe occupation and the denial of Palestinians` rights and their mass murder by Israel as `antisemitic.` It is not.

Against this backdrop, why is America negotiating with Iran to get it to move away from enriching uranium to 90pc or more (weapons-grade) from the current 60pc and not going for the military option? From the US perspective, many of Iran`s oil-rich Gulf neighbours are very nervous about the outbreak of any hostilities spilling over onto their soil. So while Israel has publicly advocated for a `Libya-like` dismantling of Iran`s nuclear capability, the US position isn`t that unambiguously maximalist.

Witkoff has gone on record to say that a reduction in enrichment to a level that is for civilian use only will be acceptable. Obviously, under pressure from Israel, officials in Washington started backtracking on his statement, without really spellingout exactly what is acceptable.

Although officially it wasn`t said to be linked to the Iran-US talks, the timing of the visit this week to Tehran by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, a former fighter pilot, and his chief of general staff could not have been coincidental.

Considerable bonhomie was on display and significantly the visitor was granted an audience by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The visit seemed aimed at underlining the Saudi position to Tehran that Riyadh disapproves of any US-Israeli military action against Iran, since Iran and Saudi Arabia`s relations are now back on track after a China-mediated normalisation process.

It was clear from a media leak originating in Israel that the apartheid state wishes to attack and degrade Iran`s military capability. The leak said Trump vetoed an Israeli plan for a joint attack on Iran`s nuclear facilities.The plan proposed American air cover as Israeli `commandos` landed on the ground, penetrated fortified facilities deep underground and destroyed them. Even a US president totally beholden to the apartheid state saw the dangers of such an escalation and preferred talks.

While he owes much to Israel, as is clear from huge arms shipments to it and the expulsion of even permanent American residents for merely protesting against the Gaza genocide, he also has commercial ties with the Saudis and wants to keep them and other Gulf states onside. Moreover, Trump sees himself as bathed in glory as a peacemaker by expanding the Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia.

Iran has made clear that it is willing to agree to any `reasonable` demands, ie, it may be amenable to reducing its enrichment to verifiable civilian use thresholds but would not be prepared to `dismantle` its programme. Crippling sanctions may have brought Iran to the negotiating table but its red lines remain.

Many analysts say Iran is prepared to accept what was agreed to in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement during the Obama administration a deal which Trump annulled in 2018, despite IAEA certification that Iran was adhering to its commitments. This was doneunderIsraelipressure.

A lot has changed since in the region, especially with the consolidation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman`s role. The de facto Saudi leader may not have been assertive then as he needed American support to cement himself at the helm. But, observers say, he seems to have come of age now.

The Gulf leaders` disdain for what they see as religiously inspired militancy in the Muslim world, particularly in Gaza, may keep them from doing anything concrete to stop the genocide but even they would see the perils of endorsing an attack on Iran as they may themselves get sucked into the conflict.

Let`s see if the talks break down and things move towards Israel`s position or sanity prevails and a peaceful path is negotiated out of what could be a bloody scenario and regional conflagration. • The wnter is a former editor of Dawn.

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