MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
U.S. and Iranian officials are meeting today in Geneva to discuss Tehran's nuclear program in what seems like a last chance to avert war.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
That's after President Trump claimed without evidence in a State of the Union address on Tuesday that Iran is building missiles that will soon be able to reach the United States. In a few moments, we'll discuss all of this with John Bolton, a national security adviser in President Trump's first term. First, though, let's get the facts.
MARTIN: NPR's Jane Arraf is following the talks from Amman, Jordan, and is with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So these are the third high-level talks between Iran and the U.S. in this round of negotiations over curbing Iran's nuclear program. If you would, just remind us about the background against which this is all taking place.
ARRAF: So Israel attacked Iran last June, and those were followed by U.S. airstrikes just before scheduled negotiations. So that obviously put a halt, a dramatic halt, to those talks. These ones now are an even bigger deal because of the U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, the biggest since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. So those U.S. threats against Iran and the probable Iranian retaliation have raised what seems to be a very real risk of a wider war, and it has the entire region in a state of high alert. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters late Wednesday. He said he didn't know if today's talks were the key for a decision on military action, but he added this.
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MARCO RUBIO: It would be good if progress was made on Thursday. And I would say that the Iranian insistence on not discussing ballistic missiles is a big, big problem. I'll leave it at that.
ARRAF: So in addition to uranium enrichment being discussed, the U.S. is demanding that Iran give up ballistic weapons as well.
MARTIN: You know, it's interesting, Jane, that both sides seem to be tamping down expectations of any breakthrough today. So just give us a sense of the state of play and what can be accomplished.
ARRAF: Sure. The Ammani foreign minister, who's mediating the talks, is going to relay the Iranian counterproposals that he received to the U.S. delegation this morning. That delegation is headed by Steve Witkoff, the billionaire real estate developer appointed by President Trump as his special Middle East envoy, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said yesterday there was basis for some agreement with the U.S. on the nuclear issue, but he makes clear that ballistic missiles are not on the table. Iran has said that expecting it to give up its national defense assets is a demand driven by Israel, and he calls it a recipe for failure in negotiations. So bottom line, no breakthrough is expected today. But if more talks are scheduled, that itself is seen as progress.
MARTIN: And this demand for no nuclear or ballistic weapons is not all that this administration wants from Iran. So tell us more about that.
ARRAF: The administration's also demanding that Iran stop support for militant groups in other countries. It has demanded that it halt its crackdown on Iranian anti-government protests in which thousands of people, mostly protesters, have been killed by security forces. Limited protests restarted in Iran last weekend. Ultimately, though, there's that specter of toppling the regime. Trump in February said regime change in Iran would be the best thing that could happen. So that really is hanging over everything.
MARTIN: That's NPR's Jane Arraf. Jane, thank you.
ARRAF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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