US President Donald Trump's special envoy Stephen Witkoff held an informal meeting in Paris with the head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, and Israeli Minister of Strategic Planning Ron Dermer, the Axios portal reported, citing its sources.
They said Witkoff discussed the US-Iran nuclear talks with Israeli officials. During the meeting, Barnea and Dermer tried to influence the US position ahead of the second round of talks with Iran in Rome on April 19, the portal's sources reported.
According to him, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concern that the United States could conclude an agreement on Iran's nuclear program similar to the 2015 agreement from which Trump withdrew during his first term.
Iran and a group of international mediators including Britain, Germany, China, Russia, the United States and France signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. The agreement marked the end of a crisis that began in 2004, when Western countries accused Tehran of developing nuclear weapons. Trump withdrew from the treaty during his first term. The previous head of the US administration, Joe Biden, has repeatedly stated his readiness to return the US to the nuclear deal. Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US and France have been negotiating with Iran since April 2021 to restore the JCPOA in its original form, but the talks ended without results.
On April 12, negotiations were held in Oman between representatives of Tehran and Washington to resolve the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program. The Iranian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and the American delegation by the President's Special Envoy Stephen Witkoff. As reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, the meeting was held constructively and in a calm atmosphere, with the parties agreeing to continue consultations. The second round of negotiations will be held in Rome on April 19.