Majority of Iranians favor direct talks, reformist politician says
A majority of Iranians want direct negotiations with the United States regarding the nuclear program, believing it would expedite progress and facilitate clearer communication, according to reformist politician Morteza Alviri.
Alviri expressed optimism about the ongoing indirect talks between Iran and the US, saying the reduced intervals between rounds as a sign of both sides' desire to resolve for an agreement.
Alviri suggested that US President Donald Trump's focus on the nuclear issue could motivate a faster resolution. However, he cautioned Iranian diplomats against neglecting Europe, warning of the potential for the so-called snapback mechanism in mid-summer.
Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, maintained a balance in his dealings with the Islamic Republic over his 12-year papacy—engaging Iran’s leaders diplomatically while voicing criticism over executions and crackdowns on dissent.
Elected in 2013, the Argentine-born pontiff entered the Vatican just as Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate within Iran’s ruling establishment, rose to power. Their political overlap raised hopes of better ties.
Rouhani visited the Vatican in January 2016, meeting Pope Francis behind closed doors. According to Vatican readouts, the Pope welcomed Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and urged its leaders to help defeat terrorism and extremism in the region.
Despite maintaining diplomatic relations, Francis never visited Iran, even as he made rare and symbolic trips to nearby Muslim-majority states. In 2021, he traveled to Iraq, where he held an unprecedented meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, which Iran’s state broadcaster ignored entirely.
Tensions between the progress ideals of the Vatican under Francis and Tehran’s actions sharpened after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in morality police custody in 2022 sparked the nationwide "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests.
Francis condemned the use of the death penalty on demonstrators during his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps in January 2022.
"The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims but only fuels the thirst for vengeance."
Weeks earlier, during his Christmas Day address, he called for reconciliation in Iran, grouping it with other regions experiencing conflict. He prayed for a lasting truce in Yemen and for reconciliation in Myanmar and Iran, highlighting the need for peace and dialogue there.
Francis also responded to escalating regional tensions. After the US killing of Qassem Soleimani in 2020 and Iran’s retaliatory strikes in Iraq, he called for restraint and dialogue, warning against war’s destructive toll.
“I call on all sides to keep the flame of dialogue and self-restraint alight and ward off the shadow of hostility,” he said in his annual State of the World address to diplomats in January 2020.
Even as he criticized Iran’s human rights record, Francis remained a point of contact for Iranian leaders. In November 2023, late President Ebrahim Raisi spoke with the Pope by phone, expressing appreciation for his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
Francis repeated that plea during his final Easter address, delivered weeks before his death.
Israeli President Herzog and newly arrived US Ambassador Mike Huckabee jointly warned of Iran's nuclear threat and regional aggression, citing Tehran's aim to destroy both nations.
“History has taught us that when a radical regime declares, ‘Death to Israel and Death to America!’ we must take these threats seriously — and counter them with all of our determination, resolve, and might," Herzog said at the ceremony to receive the US envoy's credentials.
The Israeli president and new US Ambassador Mike Huckabee warned Monday of what they called Iran's nuclear ambitions and regional aggression, saying Tehran seeks the destruction of both Israel and the US.
“The Ayatollah regime in Iran continues to pursue its radical vision of regional dominance and destabilisation – on its own and via its proxies – while pursuing nuclear arms and openly calling for the destruction of Israel,” President Isaac Herzog said at the ceremony to reci.
“History has taught us that when a radical regime declares, ‘Death to Israel and Death to America!’ we must take these threats seriously — and counter them with all of our determination, resolve, and might. For the sake of the safety of our people. For the sake of peace.”
The comments come as Israel continues to fight Iran's allies, Hamas in Gaza and Houthis in Yemen.
Huckabee echoed the fears of the looming threat posed by Iran, saying, “There are challenges, and I share with you that concern that the Iranian regime and all of its hostility, which has been inflicted upon the world for 46 years, continues to threaten not just the peace of Israel, but the peace of the United States,” he said.
“And I constantly remind people that the Iranians have always said ‘Death to Israel’, and chapter two is ‘Death to America’. It has always been their desire that Israel would be the opening act, and then it would be America's turn to face destruction.”
Since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, scores of attacks have also been launched at US infrastructure and personnel around the region.
The US is also leading a global coalition against the Houthis amid the group's attacks on ships in the Red Sea, an initiative pushed by Iran's Supreme Leader.
Iran's renewed engagement in nuclear talks with the United States is likely a survival tactic driven by economic, geopolitical, and social pressures, rather than a fundamental shift in strategy, according to an analysis by Oded Ailam of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
Ailam, a former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, pointed out the critical expiration of key provisions of the 2015 nuclear agreement in October 2025.
These "Sunset Clauses" include the end of restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program, the ban on advanced uranium enrichment technology development, and limits on civilian nuclear trade.
The analysis warns that if these clauses expire without a new arrangement, Iran will face no significant legal barriers to developing a military nuclear infrastructure within weeks. This scenario, Ailam argues, could trigger a dangerous nuclear arms race in the Middle East, prompting countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, and Egypt to pursue their own independent nuclear programs.
Drawing a parallel to a Persian proverb about muddying waters to catch fish, Ailam suggests Iran's negotiation method involves exhausting and obscuring, rather than seeking quick agreement.
Former Iranian lawmaker Ali Motahari has expressed optimism about the ongoing indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, citing the start of expert-level discussions as a good prospect.
In an interview with Khabar Online, Motahari commented on the positive assessments from both Tehran and Washington following the second round of talks.
He said that the start of expert-level meetings on Wednesday indicates that Iran and the US have likely agreed on a framework for the negotiations, suggesting a lack of fundamental disagreement on the parameters.
He also reacted to criticism from hardline newspapers that have labeled the talks as futile, despite the establishment's decision to pursue them. Motahari said everyone should support the negotiations and refrain from undermining them.
