#nuclear-program

#nuclear-program

There's been nothing from the U.S. side about what was discussed. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner left the meeting and Oman without talking to the press or issuing a statement. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the discussions were strictly limited to the nuclear issue, which is what Tehran wanted. And he added that the trust between the two sides remained an issue. You know, last year, Witkoff and Araghchi held a number of face-to-face meetings.

Growing tensions between the United States and Iran have left the two countries one spark away from a fire. An unprecedented accumulation of US military forces in the Middle East, coupled with Washington's reliance on gunboat diplomacy, has distinctly increased the risk of warone that engulfs Iran and the region, with far-reaching regional and global costs. In the aftermath of the recent crackdown on protests in Iran, US President Donald Trump announced that it was time to remove Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The latest sanctions cut Iran off from global banks, reimpose arms and missile restrictions, and revive asset freezes and travel bans on key officials. Analysts say the measures hit Iran at a fragile moment with its economy shrinking, inflation surging, and the rial collapsing to record lows. Oil sales, foreign investment, shipping, and manufacturing are all expected to take a hit.

The United Nations, led by the so-called European 3 -- Britain, France, and Germany -- appears set to reimpose wide-ranging "snapback" sanctions on Iran after the Security Council rejected a last-minute bid by Russia and China to delay the action. Absent an extraordinary 11th-hour deal, the UN will at 8 p.m. Eastern time on September 27 reintroduce a series of measures against Iran. These include a conventional arms embargo, restrictions on activities related to ballistic missiles, a ban on reprocessing and enrichment of uranium, a global asset freeze, and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities.