WASHINGTON APPOINTS THE “BEST MAN” FOR TECHNICAL NEGOTIATIONS WITH IRAN NEXT SATURDAY.
The administration of US President Donald Trump appointed on Thursday senior State Department official Michael Anton to lead the US team in the technical negotiations between Iran and the United States scheduled for next Saturday in Amman.
Politico reported that Anton, the State Department’s director of policy planning, will lead a team of about a dozen people, mostly career officials from across the government, to hammer out the details of an agreement that would impose significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
He worked with Trump before.
This increasingly infntial administration official served on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration and then served as a fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute.
However, he has not announced any public position on the Iranian issue, which has long sparked intense and divisive controversy in Washington.
A US administration official described him as the ideal person for the position, given his experience and acumen. He added, “More importantly, he will ensure the implementation of Trump’s agenda on this issue.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in an interview with the Free Press yesterday that Washington is seeking an arrangement that would allow Iran to import enriched uranium fuel from abroad, so it can develop a civilian nuclear program.
Meanwhile, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff previously spoke of the possibility of allowing Tehran to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent, the level stipulated in the 2015 nuclear agreement.
It’s worth noting that during his first term in 2018, Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement and reimposed harsh sanctions on Tehran, which remained committed to the agreement for a year afterward before beginning to reverse its commitments. At the time, he described the nuclear agreement, concluded under his predecessor, Barack Obama, as “the worst deal ever negotiated” with Iran.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated in its latest report, issued last February, that Tehran possesses 274.8 kg of uranium enriched to 60%, far exceeding the 3.67% limit set by the 2015 agreement, bringing it closer to the 90% threshold required for use in nuclear weapons.