Iran and the United States concluded a fifth round of high-stakes nuclear talks in Rome amid growing skepticism in Tehran about the chances of a deal as Washington hardens its position. A senior Trump administration official said more talks are needed and both sides agreed to meet “in the near future.” #CNN #News
00:00No trust. That's what one Iranian official tells our Fred Pleikin about talks with the U.S.
00:04President Trump's hopes of a breakthrough with Iran in danger.
00:08As the Iranians aren't even happy with his chief negotiator, Steve Whitcoff.
00:12Fred Pleikin is out front in Tehran.
00:16Death to America and death to Israel chants at Friday prayers in Tehran.
00:21The prayer leader laying into the Trump administration as the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks hang in the balance.
00:28Iran's leadership is telling the United States that they want a nuclear agreement,
00:33but they're also not afraid of a confrontation if the talks fail.
00:37Tehran not happy with both President Trump and his chief negotiator, Steve Whitcoff,
00:43after Whitcoff said the U.S. wouldn't allow Iran to continue enriching uranium as part of any deal.
00:50No way there is no trust, this member of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps tells me.
00:55They failed their previous tests towards the Iranian nation.
00:59However, we have initiated the talks to prove our intention is not war.
01:04We want the enrichment for medical and other purposes.
01:08The negotiations are unilateral, this woman says.
01:11Trump is trying to show his power, but it is our right to have nuclear capabilities.
01:16Iran has consistently said its nuclear program is purely civilian in nature,
01:22and Tehran insists on keeping its uranium enrichment capabilities.
01:26Iran's foreign minister acknowledging the talks are complicated.
01:30We stress the positions and principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the negotiations,
01:35he says.
01:36Our positions are completely clear and we insist on them.
01:39I think the American side now has a better and more clear picture of our position.
01:44President Trump is threatening even tougher measures against Iran if the talks fail.
01:49And American officials tell CNN intelligence suggests Israel is preparing for strikes against targets in Iran.
01:58Iranians we spoke to vowing a tough response if that happens.
02:02The United States knows better what will happen, he says.
02:07If things get serious, there will not be a country named Israel on Earth.
02:12But for now, both sides say they're gearing up for the next round of talks trying to forge a new nuclear deal.
02:21You know, Erika, of course, the U.S. saying that progress continues to be made, but there is still work to be done.
02:27Of course, for the Iranians, that main sticking point remains uranium enrichment.
02:31That is something where they say it is their right and they're not going to walk back from that.
02:36Erika?
02:36Fred, appreciate the reporting tonight.
02:38Growing skepticism today after a fifth round of indirect nuclear talks with the United States and Iran in Rome.
02:44The U.S. insists Iran dismantled its uranium enrichment program, a crucial element to the manufacturing of nuclear weapons,
02:50while Iranian officials say that's a red line.
02:53CNN's Fred Pleitkin is in Iran's capital, Tehran.
02:55Fred, what's the mood there?
02:57Hi there, Phil.
03:00Well, there is certainly a lot of skepticism here on the ground.
03:02At the same time, the Iranians are saying these talks are continuing, and as long as they continue, there is a chance for a positive outcome.
03:09But you're absolutely right.
03:10The Iranians today, after those talks, this comes in the form of the foreign minister, who's also the lead negotiator for the Iranians.
03:15He came out and he said that the talks were very professional, as he put it.
03:19But it seems as though what was achieved, as far as the Iranians are concerned, is they say that the U.S. now better understands Iran's position than they did before.
03:29Now, it doesn't really sound like a lot of progress on the face of it.
03:32That's also the vibe that we're getting here on the streets of Tehran as well.
03:36We were at Friday prayers earlier today, and on the sidelines of those prayers, I spoke to a couple of people and got their view.
03:42Here's what they told me.
03:46Our supreme leader says we don't want a nuclear weapon.
03:49We don't need one, because our power lies in our belief in God.
03:53I hope this round will be like previous rounds, and the common points of the parties will get closer, so that both countries will benefit.
04:02But considering the differences that exist, a result seems a bit out of reach.
04:08The negotiations are unilateral.
04:10Trump is trying to show his power.
04:12But it is our right to have nuclear capabilities.
04:15We don't want anything dangerous, just for medical purposes and agriculture.
04:23Those are a couple of folks that we were speaking to earlier today on the sidelines of those Friday prayers.
04:28And that really is the main issue for the Iranians, and the one that they say is definitely the most difficult in those talks.
04:33And that is that enrichment by the Iranians.
04:36They say, first of all, they have a right to that.
04:38But they also say it's a technology that they've been working on for such a very long time, that homegrown enrichment capability.
04:44And it's not something that they're willing to give up.
04:47It's quite interesting to hear also from the U.S. side after those talks.
04:49We didn't hear directly from Steve Witkoff, but certainly a source close to Steve Witkoff, saying that the U.S. also believes that progress continues to be made.
04:57But there are still a lot of factors that need to be worked on.
05:00So neither side saying they believe that there's going to be a breakthrough coming fast.
05:04But both sides at least say they are going to meet again for further talks, not too distant future, Phil.
05:10Fred Pleken, for us in Tehran, thanks so much.
05:12Joining us now, Fred McGurk.
05:13He was the special envoy under multiple presidents, National Security Council coordinator under President Biden.
05:19But you were involved in Iran talks.
05:21I actually want to start with what Fred reported there was Iranian officials were saying about the meeting, saying that the U.S. better understands the position than they did before.
05:31I understand that it may seem innocuous to people.
05:34What do those words mean to you?
05:36Well, look, this is one of the most complicated files in Washington.
05:39So I give Steve a lot of credit for taking this on.
05:42It's complicated issue-wise.
05:43It's about nuclear physics.
05:45It's about sanctions.
05:46It's complicated politically in both capitals.
05:48But, look, President Trump put a deadline on these talks in March.
05:51We have to get a deal in two months, and we're at two months.
05:54And this now seems to just be being rope-a-doped.
05:57I've negotiated with the Iranians.
05:58I kind of see exactly what they're doing.
06:00Look, this issue this year is a critical year.
06:02Let me tell you why.
06:03Two things.
06:03What's left of the Obama-era JCPOA, one provision in it that even the critics of that deal really like, is called snapback.
06:10That means any member of that agreement, including the U.K. and France, can go to the U.N. Security Council and say all U.N. sanctions come back on Iran without having to have a vote in the Security Council.
06:20It's unilateral.
06:21That expires in October, and that is a key piece of leverage against the Iranians.
06:24The Iranians know that.
06:26And the Brits and the French have been pretty hard-line at this.
06:28They said we're ready to do that if we don't have a new deal.
06:30But that's going to expire later this year.
06:33Another point about this, you know, Phil, I was in the Situation Room on October 1st last year.
06:38200 ballistic missiles coming from Iran to Israel.
06:41It takes 13 minutes for that flight.
06:44And I kept thinking at that moment, if one of those missiles ever had an Iranian nuclear warhead, I don't care if it's five years, 20 years from now, just think about what could happen.
06:53I mean, this country, Iran, cannot be on the threshold of having a nuclear weapon.
06:58So this issue has to be dealt with.
06:59It can be dealt with militarily, as President Trump has threatened.
07:03It can be dealt with diplomatically.
07:05We want a diplomatic resolution.
07:06But as I see this going on, I just don't see this moving to a resolution.
07:10I mean, you're talking about more talks.
07:12I've seen this pattern before.
07:14I think the Iranians just want to kind of string this out.
07:16But if the key kind of leverage point is the October snapback provisions from other JCPOA signatories, presumably that's kind of the window here.
07:26I know the president put a two-month time limit on it.
07:30Is that kind of the reality?
07:31Like, we're going to go up to rope-a-dope until October and then someone's going to make decisions?
07:34This year is a critical issue.
07:36The coming months, I mean, snapback expires in October, but to really implement it, the Europeans would have to move later this summer.
07:43So the coming months are really critical here.
07:45I thought that deadline Trump put on back in March was right.
07:49Increasing sanctions pressure is right, although Iran is continuing to export significant amounts of oil.
07:56And military pressure.
07:57You have to have a credible military threat in the region to really put teeth on this.
08:01And also, the reason I was confident this year we could actually get a pretty good deal, Iran is in the weakest position it has been in in decades.
08:11The Israelis took out all of their strategic air defense back in October.
08:15Iran economically is in deep distress.
08:17It's lost its bullets, main proxies around the region.
08:20So everything is lined up here for a deal, but the Iranians are very good at just stringing things out.
08:28Let's meet today in Rome for two hours.
08:29Let's meet again in two weeks in Oman.
08:31And before you know it, you just kind of run out of time.
08:34Let me ask you, you know, what you flashback to, which, by the way, people may not remember that because it went miraculously so well.
08:42Not miraculously.
08:43There was a reason why it went well.
08:44I know you're deeply involved in that.
08:47The U.S.-Israel relationship right now.
08:49There's a lot of reporting out about potential attacks, the relationship between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump.
08:54Sources telling CNN U.S. Envoy Steve Wyckoff was set to meet with Ron Dermer, confidant of Prime Minister Netanyahu on the sidelines of these talks in Rome.
09:03Where does that relationship sit right now?
09:06I think it's pretty solid.
09:08There's always tension in the relationship.
09:09I think it's pretty solid.
09:10But look, Israel is concerned about a deal that doesn't really take care of the problem.
09:15They're concerned about an interim deal that kind of kicks the can and then snapback expires.
09:19And so that's where you get a lot of this tension.
09:21Look, I think it's very good, Ron Dermer and David Barnea, the director of Mossad, someone I know very well, was also in Rome talking to Steve on the sidelines of these talks.
09:30I think that's good.
09:31End of the day, President Trump has a lot of power here because he's got political force in Washington to do a deal.
09:39There's only so much.
09:40Bibi has limited maneuvering room with Trump.
09:43But you have to get a good deal.
09:45And I think to get a good deal on these issues, you know, everyone talks about enrichment.
09:49It's not just the enrichment program.
09:51It is since Trump left the JCPOA in 2018, Iran has installed or produced new generations of centrifuges.
09:58You have to take care of the centrifuges, the stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
10:02It is a very, very complicated set of issues.
10:04It takes weeks and months to negotiate of constant negotiations.
10:08So I'm a little concerned here we're being strung along.
10:11And I think you've got to put some teeth on this.
10:14Every negotiation has to have a deadline.
10:16And Trump said two months ago, it'll be two months.
10:20We're at that point.
10:21So we're now at the point where this can just get robo-doped.
10:24And I just, I think you've got to put a little teeth in here or we're not going to get a deal.
