NY Times: Iran willing to halt or suspend nuclear program

As US and Iran set for talks, Trump warns ‘bad things’ will happen if no deal reached

Regime reported to fear American strike may reignite protests, imperil its rule; Israel expected to stress to Washington importance of curbs on missile program, support for proxies

Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday in Turkey, Iranian and US officials told Reuters on Monday, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading to Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet in Istanbul in an effort to revive diplomacy over a long-running dispute about Iran’s nuclear program and dispel fears of a new regional war, while a regional diplomat said representatives from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt would also participate.

Trump reiterated Monday that a large fleet of US military vessels was sailing toward Iran.

“We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones — the biggest and the best — and we have talks going on with Iran and we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “If we can work something out, that would be great and if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.

“I’d like to see a deal negotiated. I don’t know that that’s going to happen,” he added.

Tehran considers its position

Tensions are running high amid a US naval buildup near Iran, following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.

Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast. He said last week Iran was “seriously talking,” while Tehran’s top security official Ali Larijani said arrangements for negotiations were under way.

Iranian sources told Reuters last week that Trump had demanded three conditions for resumption of talks: zero enrichment of uranium in Iran, limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile program and ending its support for regional proxies.

Iran has long rejected all three demands as unacceptable infringements of its sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters its clerical rulers saw the ballistic missile program, rather than uranium enrichment, as the bigger obstacle.

The New York Times cited two regional officials as saying Iran was indicating a readiness to halt or suspend its nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was considering “the various dimensions and aspects of the talks,” adding that “time is of the essence for Iran as it wants the lifting of unjust sanctions sooner.”

Turkey and other regional allies have sought de-escalation.

“Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, as well as some other countries, will attend the Istanbul meeting. There will be bilateral, trilateral and other meetings,” the regional diplomat said.

A Turkish ruling-party official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington had agreed to re-focus on diplomacy and possible talks this week, in a potential reprieve for potential US strikes.

Witkoff was expected to visit Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s military chief, two senior Israeli officials said separately on Monday.

Channel 12 reported that in officials’ meetings with Witkoff, they will underline the importance of sticking to Trump’s three demands. It said Mossad chief David Barnea will also take part in the meetings.

It said Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner will join Witkoff in Istanbul for the talks with Iran.

Regime fears for its future

Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, following a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, six current and former officials told Reuters.

In high-level meetings, officials told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that public anger over last month’s crackdown — the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — has reached a point where fear is no longer a deterrent, four current officials briefed on the discussions said.

The officials said Khamenei was told that many Iranians were prepared to confront security forces again and that external pressure, such as a limited US strike, could embolden them and inflict irreparable damage to the political establishment.

One of the officials told Reuters that Iran’s enemies are seeking more protests so as to bring the Islamic Republic to an end, and “unfortunately” there would be more violence if an uprising took place.

“An attack combined with demonstrations by angry people could lead to a collapse [of the ruling system]. That is the main concern among the top officials and that is what our enemies want,” said the official, who like the other officials contacted for this story declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The reported remarks are significant because they suggest private misgivings inside the leadership at odds with Tehran’s defiant public stance toward the protesters and the US.

The sources declined to say how Khamenei responded. Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on this account of the meetings.

Multiple sources told Reuters last week that Trump is weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces and leaders to inspire protesters, even as Israeli and Arab officials said air power alone would not topple the clerical rulers.

“People are extremely angry,” a former senior moderate official says, adding that a US attack could lead Iranians to rise up again. “The wall of fear has collapsed. There is no fear left.”

At the same time, an Iranian official told Reuters that “diplomacy is ongoing. For talks to resume, Iran says there should not be preconditions and that it is ready to show flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over 400 kg of highly enriched uranium, accepting zero enrichment under a consortium arrangement as a solution.”

However, he added, for the start of talks, Tehran wanted US military assets moved away from Iran.

“Now the ball is in Trump’s court,” he said.

IDF prepares

Amid the ongoing tensions with Iran, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Monday that the military was in a “period of improving readiness for war.”

“We must continue to draw lessons from the events of October 7 [2023], strengthen the defensive posture, and be prepared for a sequence of offensive actions across all theaters of war,” Zamir said during a conference with senior officers, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

“The IDF is preparing for a number of possibilities, and we must remain alert and constantly ready for decisive [victory] in a multi-front war,” he added.

Following the Iranian authorities’ deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

Tehran, in response, has warned that if Trump orders strikes, Iran will target Israel and American military assets in the Middle East.

Netanyahu addressed these threats in a speech to the Knesset on Monday, saying Israel was “ready for every scenario.”

“Whoever attacks us will face unbearable consequences,” the premier warned.

During a June 2025 war, Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It has debilitated several of the terror groups funded by Tehran that seek Israel’s destruction. Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran has denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.