Overall deal: Witkoff arrived in Israel before talks with Tehran
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on February 3 to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Later, he will travel to Istanbul for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. The meeting, organized with the mediation of Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, will be the first attempt at dialogue amid Donald Trump's threats to unleash a "huge armada" on Tehran. While the American envoy is coordinating positions with the Israeli leader, Moscow is offering its way out of the impasse. According to the New York Times, the Islamic Republic has agreed to export excess enriched uranium to Russia.
Pezeshkian ordered to open a channel of negotiations with Washington
Witkoff flew to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir. The main topic is Iran: Zamir visited Washington the day before, where he held talks with the US military about the situation around the Islamic Republic. According to the Ynet portal, Israel and the United States are acting in full coordination, and the Jewish state hopes to receive "advance warning from the United States in the event of a decision to attack" Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi
After his visit to Israel, Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi plan to meet in Istanbul on February 6 to discuss a possible nuclear deal. The organization of the meeting is overseen by Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, which act as mediators amid ongoing regional tensions. The meeting in Istanbul will be the first attempt at direct dialogue after President Donald Trump threatened Iran with a "huge armada" and recalled strikes on nuclear facilities as part of Operation Midnight Hammer in the summer of 2025.
In response, Tehran said it would strike Israel and American facilities in the Middle East in the event of an attack. Netanyahu told the Knesset on February 2 that the country is ready for "any scenario" and warned of "severe consequences" for those who attack Israel.
At the same time, the United States and Iran are signaling their readiness for negotiations. President Masoud Peseshkian ordered the start of a dialogue with Washington after Trump expressed hope for reaching a deal that could prevent a military conflict. According to Fars, Tehran's decision opens the way to a direct discussion of the nuclear issue.
Meanwhile, Moscow is already looking for practical solutions to the crisis. Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, recently visited the Kremlin. According to New York Times sources, he gave Vladimir Putin a personal message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The essence of the proposal: Iran may agree to export excess enriched uranium to Russia.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, confirmed that Moscow had long offered such services. This would "remove irritants" for a number of countries.
According to Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, Putin and Larijani discussed the expansion of bilateral cooperation and the problems of the region. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that the United States is sending signals to Tehran about the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the proposed conditions can essentially be considered an ultimatum.
Will Iran make concessions
Iran is ready to curtail or partially suspend its nuclear program, but would prefer the creation of a regional consortium for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, according to American media. The United States, in turn, insists on a complete shutdown of the program and control over enriched uranium.
The Iranian rulers may make partial concessions to the United States in order to maintain their power and avoid military escalation, said Vladimir Sazhin, senior researcher at the Center for the Study of the Near and Middle East at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
—Sober—minded representatives of the IRGC may agree to certain demands from Washington, but the full fulfillment of the conditions - the nullification of the nuclear program, the reduction of missile capabilities and the cessation of support for Shiite proxy forces in the Middle East — will actually be a capitulation," he explains.
A B-2 Spirit bomber takes off to participate in Operation Midnight Hammer
The complexity of the negotiations is compounded by previous incidents. In June 2025, the United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, after which Trump declared that "the next attack will be even worse" and called on Tehran not to let this happen. In 2015, Iran, Russia, the United States, Britain, France, China and Germany signed a nuclear deal. It assumed the lifting of sanctions against Tehran in exchange for limiting its nuclear program. However, in 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA, again imposing American restrictions on Tehran. The Americans then accused the Iranians of violating the agreements.
This experience increases the pressure on both sides, making the upcoming meetings in Istanbul extremely sensitive. According to the Reuters news agency, the priority of the talks in Turkey will be to prevent any conflict and reduce tensions. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Oman, Egypt and Qatar are also invited to the meeting.
The White House is skeptical about the success of the negotiations, although special envoy Steve Witkoff, apparently, would prefer to negotiate with the Iranian authorities, said Roman Yanushevsky, editor-in-chief of the website of the 9th Israeli TV channel.
— Military equipment continues to be deployed to the region. We will definitely have a few days of relative calm until the stalled negotiations are announced," he told Izvestia.
According to him, Tehran is hardly ready to give up key symbols and national interests.
— Iran will not give up its nuclear program, missile potential and regional proxy forces, which are their strategic and investment base. They just don't trust the Americans," Roman Yanushevsky added.
As the meetings are being prepared, world leaders continue to coordinate actions. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed OPEC+ and measures to ensure the stability of the global energy market by phone with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The Kremlin's press service clarified that the topics also included topical international and regional issues.
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