SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - The head of the International Crisis Group said in an interview on Thursday that both Iran and the United States appear “serious and genuine” about resuming negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, amid signs of a shifting regional balance. US President Donald Trump “has made it very clear that he is not interested in war,” Comfort Ero, president of the International Crisis Group think tank, told Rudaw on the sidelines of the Sulaimani Forum. She said that Trump’s recent letter to Tehran signals he is “interested and genuine” in wanting to reach a deal. “Iran is at the table, they have signaled their interests. They have said that they want to have those talks and I think therefore we should take them as serious and genuine as well,” she added. A second round of talks between the two sides will take place in Rome this weekend with Oman continuing its role as mediator, according to Iranian state media. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi launched their high-stakes talks last Saturday in Oman, focusing on Tehran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief. Both Washington and Tehran described their first meeting as positive. Ero noted that Iran is now in a more fragile position than in previous years. Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, long backed by Iran, and the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon after its recent conflict with Israel, Iran is now in a diminished geopolitical position, with its regional influence curtailed. “It is vulnerable. It is weaker economically. [There is] lots of domestic pressure. Its access of networks in the region [is] also either damaged… [or is] not in the same position it used to be,” she said. “This is a very different Iran, but that also doesn’t necessarily mean that, with all those factors, that Iran is going to be shoved around,” Ero continued. “This is a factor that you cannot dismiss as part of the rationale of why it has decided to have the talks.” In 2018, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, a pact under which Iran had agreed to curb its uranium enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief. Following his withdrawal, Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions on the Islamic republic, prompting Tehran to gradually roll back its nuclear commitments. Upon returning to office earlier this year, Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, arguing in early February that Tehran was “too close” to developing a nuclear weapon. He has threatened military action should negotiations fail to produce a new agreement. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. In a rare op-ed published before the Oman meeting, Araghchi wrote: “Under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.” Turning to Syria, Ero said that “there has to be an understanding between all the regional powers about the need for a stable Syria.” Since Assad was ousted in early December, Israel has ramped up efforts to destroy Syrian military stockpiles and deployed troops into a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, describing the incursion as a security measure amid ongoing instability. “A stable Syria is also crucial for Israel. The weaker Syria is does not mean that Israel becomes strong,” she said. According to the United Nations, Israel has occupied multiple positions on Syrian territory. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, during a panel discussion at the Sulaimani Forum on Monday, warned that Syria faces growing instability and foreign occupation due to Israel’s military campaign.
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