{"id":22931,"date":"2025-04-15T20:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T20:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/22931\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T20:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T20:41:15","slug":"new-us-aircraft-carrier-in-mideast-ahead-of-2nd-iran-us-nuclear-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/22931\/","title":{"rendered":"New US aircraft carrier in Mideast ahead of 2nd Iran-US nuclear talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 A second U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in Mideast waters ahead of the next round of talks between Iran<\/a> and the United States over Tehran\u2019s rapidly advancing nuclear program<\/a>, satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed. <\/p>\n

The operation of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group in the Arabian Sea comes as suspected U.S. airstrikes pounded parts of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels<\/a> overnight into Tuesday. American officials repeatedly have linked the monthlong U.S. campaign against the Houthis under President Donald Trump as a means to pressure Iran in the negotiations. <\/p>\n

Questions remain over where the weekend talks between the countries will be held after officials initially identified Rome as hosting the negotiations, only for Iran to insist early Tuesday they would return to Oman<\/a>. American officials so far haven\u2019t said where the talks will be held, though Trump did call Oman\u2019s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq<\/a> on Tuesday while the ruler was on a trip to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

The stakes of the negotiations couldn\u2019t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity<\/a>. Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes<\/a> targeting Iran\u2019s nuclear program if a deal isn\u2019t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon<\/a> with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.<\/p>\n

But even Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly described the first round of talks as going \u201cwell,\u201d while still couching his remarks Tuesday. <\/p>\n

U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff<\/a>, who represented America in last weekend\u2019s talks in Oman<\/a>, separately signaled that the Trump administration may be looking at terms of the 2015 nuclear deal that the president unilaterally withdrew from in 2018 as a basis for these negotiations. He described the talks last weekend as \u201cpositive, constructive, compelling.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization,\u201d Witkoff told Fox News on Monday night. \u201cThat includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there. And it includes the trigger for a bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe\u2019re here to see if we can solve this situation diplomatically and with dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vinson joins Truman as second US aircraft carrier in Mideast<\/p>\n

Satellite photos taken Monday by the European Union\u2019s Copernicus program showed the Vinson, which is based out of San Diego, California, operating northeast of Socotra, an island off Yemen that sits near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. The Vinson is accompanied by the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton and two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the USS Sterett and the USS William P. Lawrence.<\/p>\n

The U.S. ordered the Vinson to the Mideast to back up the USS Harry S. Truman, which has been launching airstrikes against the Houthis since the American campaign started March 15. Footage released by the Navy showed the Vinson preparing ordinance and launching F-35 and F\/A-18 fighter jets off its deck in recent days. <\/p>\n

The U.S. Navy\u2019s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which oversees the Mideast, declined to discuss details of the Vinson\u2019s operations. However, hours after the AP\u2019s report, the U.S. military\u2019s Central Command posted videos from the two carriers on the social platform X saying there had been \u201c24\/7 strikes\u201d on the Houthis by the two carriers.<\/p>\n

Khamenei responds<\/p>\n

The Vinson\u2019s arrival came as Khamenei, while speaking to high-ranking government officials in Tehran on Tuesday, endorsed the progress of the talks. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be overly optimistic about this dialogue, nor overly pessimistic,\u201d the 85-year-old Khamenei said. \u201cThe first steps have been taken well and executed properly. From here on, the process should be followed carefully. The red lines are clear \u2014 both for the other side and for us. We may or may not reach a result, but either way, it\u2019s worth pursuing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also urged officials \u201cnot to tie the country\u2019s affairs\u201d to the talks, which are scheduled to have a second round on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we don\u2019t fully trust them \u2014 we know who we\u2019re dealing with,\u201d Khamenei added. \u201cBut we are optimistic about our own capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witkoff suggests 3.67% uranium enrichment for Iran <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Witkoff offered for the first time a specific enrichment level he\u2019d like to see for Iran\u2019s nuclear program. Today, Tehran enriches uranium to up to 60% \u2014 a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not need to enrich past 3.67%,\u201d Witkoff told Fox News. \u201cIn some circumstances, they\u2019re at 60%, in other circumstances, 20%. That cannot be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you do not need to run, as they claim, a civil nuclear program where you\u2019re enriching past 3.67%. So this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2015 nuclear deal Iran agreed to with world powers under President Barack Obama saw Tehran agree to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67% \u2014 enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Iran in exchange received access to frozen funds around the world, and sanctions were lifted on its crucial oil industry and other sectors. <\/p>\n

Late Tuesday, Witkoff wrote on X that \u201ca deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is imperative for the world that we create a tough, fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Javan newspaper, which is believed to be close to its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, suggested in an editorial Tuesday that Tehran would be open to reducing its enrichment. <\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that we have done before, why should we not carry it again and reach a deal?\u201d the editorial asked. \u201cThis is not called a withdrawal by Islamic Republic from its ideals anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, however, he pointed at Iran\u2019s ballistic missile stockpile as one reason to leave the deal. Witkoff said any deal with Iran would have to include \u201cmissiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there and it includes the trigger for a bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran relies on its ballistic missiles as a hedge against regional nations armed with advanced fighter jets and other American weaponry. Getting it to abandon its missile program likely will be difficult in negotiations.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York<\/a> and Outrider Foundation<\/a>. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/the-new-nuclear-landscape\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 A second U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in Mideast waters ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[14533,6904,4180,32,33,4179,14537,14536,774,14535,839,285,7070,14532,49,5213,978,659,10673,14534,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-22931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-ali-khamenei","9":"tag-barack-obama","10":"tag-ca-state-wire","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-elections","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-harry-s-truman","15":"tag-houthis","16":"tag-iran","17":"tag-iran-government","18":"tag-middle-east","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-steve-witkoff","21":"tag-tehran","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-government","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa","26":"tag-washington-news","27":"tag-william-lawrence","28":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114343922117418357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}