MILES PARKS, HOST:
The U.S. and Iran have concluded a second round of talks on Tehran's nuclear program with an agreement to meet again in a week's time. The two sides gathered today in Rome, and the talks are being mediated by Oman. President Trump says he wants to prevent Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon, and he's indicated he's willing to give these negotiations a bit of time. We're joined now by NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam to tell us a little bit more. Hey, Jackie.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Hi, Miles.
PARKS: So tell us what we know about the second round of negotiations here.
NORTHAM: Well, the meeting took place at Oman's embassy in Rome, and this was the second time in as many weeks that they've met after, you know, years of having no direct talks between the two countries. The U.S. side was led by President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, represented Iran, and he told Iranian TV after the four-hour meeting, the talks were good and held in a constructive manner. But Araghchi gave no specific details about what was discussed, and we haven't heard from the U.S. side yet.
PARKS: It does seem to me that things seem to be going well just by the fact that they have agreed to meet again for a third round of talks next weekend. Can you talk us through what the endgame is here?
NORTHAM: Well, after their first meeting last week, U.S. envoy Witkoff said that Iran could enrich uranium to a low-grade level to produce energy. And then a couple days later, he turned around and said, Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment. So it's a little unclear what the U.S. is willing to accommodate. But, you know, Iran has been firm that it will not give up what it insists is its right to enrich uranium for civilian use.
Other than that, Iran may be looking for sanctions relief. You know, during his first term in office, Trump pulled out of the previous nuclear accord, which had been negotiated by President Obama. And he placed crippling sanctions on Iran, which has just hobbled its economy. So getting out from under that may be one thing that Iran is looking for in these talks and perhaps can help reach a compromise.
PARKS: But considering the weakened economy point and also some recent military setbacks, is Iran really in a position where they're going to be willing to compromise?
NORTHAM: Oh, you're right. You know, Iran is not in a position of strength right now. Since the start of the Gaza War 18 months ago, Israel has decimated Iran's main proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. And it took out key Iranian air defenses when the two countries traded missile and airstrikes last year for the first time ever. And the U.S. has been carrying out frequent strikes on the Houthis, which are also aligned with Iran.
You know, there's also speculation that Israel may want to launch its own strike against Iran's nuclear targets. And President Trump appeared to confirm a report in The New York Times that he'd held off such a strike that was proposed, according to the report, by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited the White House recently. And I just want to say that NPR hasn't been able to independently verify that reporting yet.
PARKS: Right, but it does signal some openness here to kind of letting these negotiations play out, seemingly. Can we...
NORTHAM: Right.
PARKS: What are we expecting next week as these kind of talks continue?
NORTHAM: Well, analysts I've spoken to expect Iran will try to drag out these talks for as long as possible without making any real concessions since they're negotiating from a position of weakness and don't want to give too much that would make them look even weaker than they are. But President Trump has made it clear, the clock is ticking. And we understand there's a meeting on a technical level during this upcoming week, and that's before Witkoff and Araghchi are due to meet in Oman next weekend. You know, that's raised hopes that they might be able to get some traction on these talks and avoid the possibility of a conflict, but, you know, it's a very complicated process.
PARKS: That's NPR's Jackie Northam. Thank you so much, Jackie.
NORTHAM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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