Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff Rushes to Israel as U.S.-Iran Nuclear Showdown Looms
Trump adviser Steve Witkoff heads to Israel as U.S.-Iran nuclear talks loom. Tehran denies ultimatum, summons EU envoys over terror designation.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump's senior adviser, will travel to Israel on Tuesday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military chief Eyal Zamir, as the U.S. and Iran prepare to hold nuclear negotiations.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of negotiations with Washington, a government source told Iranian state media Fars. The talks will include Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Witkoff, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Monday, though the location and timing haven't been finalized, as reported by Israel Hayom.
Witkoff, who is managing Iran contacts for the Trump administration, will coordinate positions with Israeli leadership before the talks begin.
Iran denied Monday it had received an ultimatum from Trump, after the president said he imposed a deadline for negotiations and threatened military action if Tehran doesn't comply.
"Iran is a country that always acts with honesty and seriousness in diplomatic processes, but we will never tolerate an ultimatum," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters. He said Iran is finalizing details of "the diplomatic process, which we hope to complete in the coming days."
The U.S. has deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and guided-missile destroyers to the Middle East amid rising regional tensions. Reports of protester killings in Iran and possible mass executions have heightened concerns. Regional countries are attempting to facilitate diplomacy to prevent a broader conflict.
Iran separately summoned all 27 European Union ambassadors in Tehran to protest the bloc's decision last week to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. The EU acted following the Guards' role in violently suppressing January protests that killed thousands and led to tens of thousands of arrests.
The U.S. and Canada have previously designated the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. While largely symbolic, the EU move increases economic pressure on Iran, where the Guards control significant portions of the economy.
"We believe that in the coming days a decision will be made on a countermeasure by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the illegal, unreasonable and very mistaken step by the European Union," Baghaei said.