According to The Wall Street Journal, Jared Kushner is also expected to participate in the talks in Istanbul with the Iranian delegation, which will be led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Sources familiar with the details said that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Pakistan and Oman have also been invited to attend.
According to one of the sources cited by the newspaper, the talks could be divided into two distinct tracks. One would focus on Iran's nuclear program, an issue that Tehran is ostensibly prepared to discuss. The second would address the broader set of issues that the US insists on putting on the table, chief among them restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program and an end to Iranian support for terrorist organizations in the region. Iran has categorically rejected these demands.
These assessments echo remarks made last week by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in an interview with Al Jazeera. "My advice to our American friends is this: close the files one by one with the Iranians. Start with the nuclear issue, close it, then move to the next one, and then the next," Fidan said. "If you put everything together as one package, it will be very difficult for the Iranian side to digest. It could be perceived as humiliating for them, and it would be extremely hard to explain not only to themselves but also to the leadership."
Iran's leadership is increasingly concerned that a US strike, even if limited in scope, could undermine the regime's stability and potentially lead to its collapse. According to a report by Reuters, senior Iranian officials, both current and former, believe the primary danger does not stem from the direct military damage itself but from the potential impact such an attack could have on the Iranian public, which is already in a state of deep unrest.
Over the past month, Iran has experienced a broad wave of protests that was met with violent repression, described as the deadliest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, according to sources familiar with discussions at the highest levels, the crackdown has failed to restore deterrence, and the "wall of fear" that once kept citizens off the streets has cracked significantly. In internal meetings, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was informed that large segments of the public are prepared to confront security forces again, and that external pressure such as strikes could act as a catalyst for a renewed outbreak of protests.
These concerns stand in contrast to the harsh rhetoric that Tehran presents publicly toward the US and the protesters. In the background are statements by the US president about examining options for action against Iran, alongside regional assessments that military action alone would not be sufficient to bring down the regime.
At the same time, opposition figures and analysts warn that the calm on the streets is only temporary, and that public frustration continues to simmer amid economic hardship, political repression and entrenched corruption.
