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Iran, US hold second round of high-stakes nuclear talks in Rome

The United States and Iran on Saturday resumed high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, a week after an initial round of discussions that both sides described as “constructive”.The Oman-mediated talks in Rome began at around 0930 GMT, according to a US official and Iranian state television.Images broadcast by Iranian state television showed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arriving in the Italian capital, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff also set to participate in the talks.Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the “two delegations are in two different rooms” at the Omani ambassador’s residence, with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi passing messages between them.The meeting comes a week after the two sides had what Iran called indirect talks in Muscat. Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.Following his return to office in January, Trump revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran.In March he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.”I’m not in a rush” to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.”On Friday, Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their “intentions and motivations”.In a social media post early Saturday, Baqaei said Tehran was “aware that it is not a smooth path but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on the past experiences”.The leader of mediator Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, is due in Moscow in the coming days, according to his office and the Kremlin, which said he would discuss with President Vladimir Putin “current questions on the international and regional agenda” and other issues.- ‘Crucial stage’ -In an interview published on Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb.During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers which offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart in Rome, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide on whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year.Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.Grossi, who met Iranian officials in Tehran this week, said the US and Iran were “at a very crucial stage” in the talks and “don’t have much time” to secure a deal.- ‘Non-negotiable’ -Iranian officials have insisted that the talks focus only on its nuclear programme and lifting of sanctions.Araghchi said a deal with the US was “likely” if Washington refrained from “making unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, without elaborating.Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.Araghchi said Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “non-negotiable”, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to prevent this.Khamenei on Tuesday said Iranians should not pin hopes on progress in the negotiations which “may or may not yield results”.

Iran, US hold second round of high-stakes nuclear talks in Rome

Vance discusses migration during Vatican meeting with pope’s right-hand man

US Vice President JD Vance met with the Vatican’s second-highest official on Saturday, in which they discussed the thorny issue of refugees just two months after Pope Francis incurred the wrath of the White House after lambasting the new US administration over its migration policies.Catholic convert Vance and his delegation held “cordial talks” with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states, according to a Vatican statement.The meeting came just a day after Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and discussed US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.Vance, 40, had been hoping to meet with the 88-year-old head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who is recuperating after battling life-threatening pneumonia and spending nearly 40 days in hospital.The Vatican made no mention of any such meeting with the pontiff and Vance’s entourage has not commented on the rest of his programme in Rome.”During the cordial talks” that praised bilateral relations, “the common commitment to protect the right to freedom of religion and conscience was reiterated,” the Vatican said in a statement.That was a topic Vance brought up during a speech to the Munich Security Conference in February, when he slammed the “retreat” of free speech in Europe.- ‘Valuable service to most vulnerable’ -However, there were also discussions on subjects where the two sides do not see eye to eye.”There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners,” the Vatican added.In February, Francis angered the White House after writing a letter to US bishops in which he condemned Trump’s plan to deport migrants en masse, which he described as a “major crisis”.The US responded by telling Francis to “stick to” religion.Last year, Francis also made a rare foray into the US election season to call harsh anti-migrant attitudes “madness” and criticise right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances.But following Saturday’s meeting, the Vatican did acknowledge the US Catholic Church’s “valuable service to the most vulnerable people”.Vance has a close relationship with the most conservative fringe of American churches, which have criticised the pope over his stances on migration, LGBTQ rights and certain questions of social justice.The US vice president, his wife and three children attended a Good Friday liturgy at Saint Peter’s Basilica following his meeting with Meloni.There has been no official confirmation whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in his mid-30s, will attend Easter mass on Sunday, where the pope is expected to make an appearance to the thousands of faithful who will descend on the Vatican for the occasion.In May 2017, when Trump was in his first term, he was received at the Vatican for a half-hour meeting.

Afghan FM tells Pakistan’s top diplomat deportations are ‘disappointment’

Afghanistan’s foreign minister expressed “deep concern and disappointment” to his Pakistani counterpart on Saturday over the forced deportation of tens of thousands of Afghans since the start of April.Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of the month more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.Pakistan’s top diplomat Ishaq Dar flew to Kabul for a day-long visit on Saturday where he held discussions with Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.”Muttaqi expressed his deep concern and disappointment over the situation and forced deportation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan,” the Afghan foreign ministry’s deputy spokesperson Zia Ahmad said on X. “He strongly urged Pakistani authorities to prevent the suppression of the rights of Afghans living there and those coming here.”Ahmad added that Dar reassured officials that Afghans “will not be mistreated”.Afghans in Pakistan have reported weeks of arbitrary arrests, extortion and harassment by authorities as they ramp up their campaign to expel migrants. Islamabad has said nearly 85,000 have already crossed into Afghanistan, with convoys of Afghan families heading to border crossings each day fearing raids, arrests or separation from family members.On Friday, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference that “there will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline”.”When you arrive without any documents, it only deepens the uncertainty of whether you’re involved in narcotics trafficking, supporting terrorism, or committing other crimes,” he added.Analysts, however, say it is a politically motivated strategy to put pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban government over escalating security concerns.The relationship between the two neighbours has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared, following the return of the Taliban government in Kabul in 2021.Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.The Taliban government denies the charge.- Second phase of deportations -Chaudhry said on Friday that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented. More than half of them were children, according to the United Nations refugee agency, entering a country where girls and women are banned from education after secondary school and barred from many sectors of work.Afghanistan’s refugees ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday the Taliban authorities had recorded some 71,000 Afghan returnees through the two main border points with Pakistan between April 1 and 18.In the first phase of returns in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks.In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned thousands more awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades to flee successive wars, but tensions with the Afghan community have risen as Pakistan’s economic and security concerns have deepened.The move to expel Afghans is widely supported by Pakistanis.”They are totally disrespectful towards our country. They have abused us, they have used us. One can’t live in a country if they don’t respect it,” said Ahmad Waleed, standing in his shop on Friday in Rawalpindi, near the capital.

Expulsions d’Afghans du Pakistan: Kaboul exprime sa “profonde préoccupation”

Le chef de la diplomatie talibane a fait part samedi de sa “préoccupation profonde” au sujet des nouvelles expulsions massives d’Afghans du Pakistan, lors d’une rencontre à Kaboul avec son homologue pakistanais.Amir Khan Muttaqi “a exprimé sa préoccupation profonde et sa déception quant à (…) l’expulsion de réfugiés afghans du Pakistan”, ayant débuté depuis début avril, a indiqué son bureau dans un communiqué, à l’issue d’un entretien avec Ishaq Dar.”Il a fermement appelé les autorités pakistanaises à empêcher la violation des droits des Afghans qui y vivent ou qui en viennent”, a ajouté cette source.D’après celle-ci, M. Dar a assuré que les réfugiés afghans ne seraient pas “maltraités”.Islamabad accuse notamment les trois millions d’Afghans se trouvant au Pakistan d’être “liés au terrorisme et au narcotrafic”, tandis que le gouvernement taliban dénonce des “violences” et assure que son voisin utilise les migrants “à des fins politiques”.Le gouvernement pakistanais a supprimé au 1er avril 800.000 cartes de résidences à des Afghans.Depuis le 1er avril, “84.869 citoyens afghans ont été renvoyés dans leur pays”, a indiqué vendredi lors d’une conférence de presse le vice-ministre pakistanais de l’Intérieur, Tallal Chaudhry, assurant que la campagne d’expulsion allait se poursuivre.D’après l’Agence des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (UNHCR), “58% d’entre eux sont des enfants”, qui entrent dans le seul pays au monde où la scolarisation des filles au-delà du primaire est bannie et où l’ONU dénonce un “apartheid de genre” imposé par les autorités talibanes.”Il n’y aura aucune indulgence, ni report de la date limite”, a poursuivi M. Chaudhry.”Lorsque vous arrivez sans document d’identité, cela ne fait qu’augmenter la suspicion d’une implication dans le trafic de stupéfiants, le soutien au terrorisme ou d’autres crimes”, a-t-il martelé.Islamabad autorise pour deux mois supplémentaires le séjour des 1,3 million de détenteurs de cartes délivrées par le Haut-Commissariat de l’ONU aux réfugiés (HCR).Fin 2023 déjà, Islamabad avait expulsé plus de 800.000 Afghans.A l’instar des autres pays du monde, Islamabad ne reconnaît par le gouvernement taliban instauré en 2021, même s’il a gardé son ambassade à Kaboul.Samedi, la réunion entre ministres afghan et pakistanais des Affaires étrangères à Kaboul a également porté sur la coopération, notamment économique.M. Dar a également rencontré le Premier ministre taliban, Hassan Akhund, lors de cette visite d’une journée dans la capitale afghane.

Expulsions d’Afghans du Pakistan: Kaboul exprime sa “profonde préoccupation”

En pleine guerre commerciale, Trump redouble de pression sur la Fed

Les tensions entre Donald Trump et le patron de la Fed Jerome Powell se sont encore accentuées cette semaine, le président américain menaçant de se débarrasser du patron de la Banque centrale, un mouvement qui remettrait en cause l’indépendance séculaire de l’institution.Avant même que ses droits de douane ne viennent chahuter l’économie américaine, Donald Trump n’a cessé d’appeler à une baisse des taux de la Fed pour doper la croissance.Mais la détermination de Jerome Powell à choisir son propre rythme a visiblement frustré le président, entraînant la Maison Blanche et la Fed dans un conflit ouvert qui pourrait déstabiliser les marchés financiers, selon plusieurs analystes.”Si je veux qu’il parte, il va partir très vite croyez-moi”, a lancé jeudi Donald Trump à l’intention de Jerome Powell, dont le mandat doit s’achever en mai 2026.Le président de la Fed ne l’a pas caché: il ne compte pas partir de manière anticipée, ajoutant dans la semaine que l’indépendance de l’institution était “garantie par la loi”.”Le simple fait que le président de la Fed doive s’exprimer sur le sujet montre clairement qu’ils sont sérieux”, observe la cheffe économiste du cabinet KPMG Diane Swonk, en référence aux responsables de la Maison Blanche.Pour la plupart des économistes, la hausse des droits de douane voulue par Donald Trump pourrait, au moins à court terme, ralentir la croissance et tirer les prix à la hausse, éloignant un peu plus l’objectif de 2% d’inflation visé par la Fed et la pousser à maintenir ses taux élevés plus longtemps.”Je pense qu’on se dirige vers un conflit mais je ne crois pas que la Fed risque de déposer les armes sous la pression politique”, juge la cheffe économiste de Wolfe Research, Stephanie Roth.”Ils ne vont pas réagir parce que Trump a posté un message leur demandant” de baisser les taux, estime l’analyste. Selon elle, ce serait “la recette d’un désastre”.- Indépendance “absolument essentielle” – La majorité des spécialistes estiment que le président américain n’a pas le pouvoir de licencier comme bon lui semble le patron de la Fed, ni aucun des principaux membres de l’institution.Créée il y a plus d’un siècle, la Fed a été organisée de manière à la protéger des influences politiques, et le pouvoir de nomination du président est limité à certains postes seulement, et doit passer par une confirmation du Sénat.”L’indépendance est absolument essentielle pour la Fed. Les pays qui n’ont pas de banque centrale indépendante ont des monnaies bien plus faibles et des taux d’intérêts nettement plus élevés”, rappelle Mme Roth.L’une des menaces potentielles sur la Fed pourrait venir d’une procédure judiciaire intentée devant la Cour suprême. L’administration Trump cherche à revenir sur une jurisprudence de 1935 qui empêche, à ce jour, au président américain de limoger les responsables d’agences gouvernementales indépendantes.Mais, même si elle obtenait gain de cause, la Maison Blanche serait confrontée à l’ultime juge de paix: le marché obligataire.Les récentes tensions sur les marchés financiers ont entraîné une hausse de la prime de risque sur les bons du Trésor américain, soulignant que les investisseurs ne voyaient plus nécessairement l’Etat américain comme la valeur refuge qu’il pouvait être jusqu’ici.Un mouvement inattendu qui a incité Donald Trump à suspendre une importante vague de ses droits de douane, soulageant ainsi les marchés financiers.Si les investisseurs estimaient que la capacité de la Fed à agir indépendamment contre l’inflation était remise en question, la prime de risque sur la dette américaine repartirait sûrement à la hausse, mettant de nouveau le gouvernement sous pression.”On ne peut pas contrôler le marché obligataire, c’est la morale de l’histoire. Et c’est pour cela qu’on veut une Fed indépendante”, insiste l’experte Diane Swonk.