Jackie Northam

But you know, Leila, thousands of Iranians were killed by security forces during those protests, according to human rights groups.

So any concessions by the U.S.

could be seen as rewarding the authoritarian regime.

And in fact, Trump recently said regime change in Iran would be, quote, the best that could happen.

And this, of course, as a second aircraft carrier heads towards the region.

Well, you're right.

Yeah, Wyckoff and Kushner are addressing these two major crises on the very same day.

And there are even lower expectations of a breakthrough with the Ukraine talks and the Iran ones.

This is only recently Ukraine and Russia have done face-to-face meetings, and that could indicate some pressure by Trump.

You recall during his presidential campaign, he said he'd stop the war in one day.

Now he says he wants a deal by June.

But there is no real end to the war in sight, and it's set to enter its fifth year next week.

That's NPR's Jackie Northam.

Thank you, Jackie.

Thank you.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, left the meeting and Oman without talking to the press or issuing a statement.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Adachi, said the discussions were strictly limited to the nuclear issue, which is what Tehran wanted.

And he added that the trust between the two sides remained an issue.

You know, last year, Witkoff and Adachi held a number of face-to-face meetings, but these latest ones were mediated by Oman.

Its foreign minister shuttled between the two sides, delivering messages.