Sweden urges Iran to release death row scientist as he pleads from prison

Richard Nephew, former US deputy special envoy for Iran during part of Joe Biden's presidency, said the level of trust between President Donald Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff augured well for the talks.

Still, as the negotiations are set for their third round on Saturday and first set of technical talks, the devil may be in the technical details.

"We haven't yet really seen a pretty clear sense of consistency or attention to detail on the technical side," he said in an interview with the podcast.

"Nuclear talks in general, but absolutely these, which have a 22-year history at this point, definitely could use a little bit more of the technical, a little more of the expert practitioner side," he added.

The ability of inspectors to understand and access the Iranian nuclear program which has advanced far further beyond levels reached when previous nuclear deal will also be key to success, Nephew said.

"That job is harder now than it was in the past. There's a lot less that is known about Iran's current centrifuge production activities than was known at the time. There are more hidden sites. There are storage locations."

Nephew was Washington's lead sanctions expert in the team which inked the 2015 agreement, from which Trump withdrew in 2018 during his first term.

That decision means it will not just mean the US side will be seeking commitments from Iran, he said, but Tehran will want to be sure Washington will not promptly withdraw again.

"I think the biggest thing, and this is the thing the Iranians have been looking for, and I think it's also part of the US approach here too, is guarantees for performance going forward. And I think for the Iranian, this is obviously a very serious issue because the United States did withdraw in the past."

'Talks are no reward'

While Tehran's staunchest critics have criticized US-Iran nuclear talks as legitimizing an irredeemable enemy, Nephew said diplomacy should be seen as a strategic tool and not a reward.

“I have to smile when I hear about diplomacy being seen as a reward. I couldn't disagree more with that,” Nephew said. “Diplomacy is a national security and foreign policy tool. If you see diplomacy as a tool, then you can't also see it simultaneously as a reward.”

In a recent interview with the Washington Free Beacon, maverick Democratic Senator John Fetterman deployed salty language to advocate ending talks and bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

“Waste that shit,” Fetterman said. “You’re not going to be able to negotiate with that kind of regime that has been destabilizing the region for decades already.”

Nephew argued that diplomacy paired with rigorous verification and inspections remains the best path while acknowledging that diplomacy was no panacea.

“You can’t put all your chips on diplomacy,” he said, emphasizing the need for a credible military contingency in the background. But a strike, he warned, wouldn’t be quick or clean.

“A military option would, at a minimum, create chaos across what remains of the Iranian nuclear program,” he explained. “If I'm sitting in Tehran after US military strikes, after I've lost Hezbollah, Hamas, Shia militia groups, and similar assets, it's hard to imagine the regime saying, ‘Yes, let’s make strategic concessions now.’”

You can watch the full interview with Richard Nephew on YouTube, or listen on any major podcast platform like Spotify, Apple, Amazon or Castbox.

The latest case involves an Iranian citizen accused of serving as a top official in Tehran, the report added.

The man is scheduled to appear before the Immigration and Refugee Board in June.

The report said that his name was initially released to Global News but was later withheld at the request of the board because the deportation hearing will be held behind closed doors.

The man is an official in Iran’s oil ministry, the report said citing Iranian media.

The case is part of a broader crackdown launched by the Canadian government in 2022 targeting alleged high-level Iranian officials living in the country, Global News said.

The deportation hearings for these individuals have been held largely in secret, and according to the report, only one deportation has been completed so far, although some individuals have left Canada voluntarily.

In January, Canadian authorities launched deportation proceedings against an Iranian woman they said was a senior member of the Iranian government.

Earlier in March 2014, Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) ordered the deportation of Salman Samani, Iran's deputy minister of interior during Hassan Rouhani's term as president.

Salmani was the second high-ranking Iranian official who had been ordered to leave Canada. In February that year, Majid Iranmanesh, a director general at Iran's Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, was also forced to leave.

In June 2024, after pressure from members of the Iranian diaspora, Ottawa moved to officially designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, effectively barring thousands of senior Iranian officials including top IRGC members from entering Canada.

"We will hold Syrian interim authorities accountable for the following steps to fully renounce and suppress terrorism, adopt a policy of non-aggression to neighboring states, exclude foreign terrorist fighters from any official roles, prevent Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory," said Dorothy Shea, the Deputy US representative to the United Nations in New York.

Iran’s representative Amir Saeid Iravani, in turn, said US sanctions were worsening the suffering of Syrians and hampering reconstruction.

Iran supports free elections and the formation of an inclusive government in Syria, Iravani added, calling for the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from Syria.

The Iranian envoy also warned that the presence of foreign forces undermines the country’s sovereignty and delays peace efforts.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, secretary of the Combatant Clergy Association and a former interior and justice minister, said Iran would get a fair deal after initial posturing and an expected back and forth.

“You want to buy a house. The seller says one million. You walk away. He tells you to wait and brings in a broker. Then suddenly the asking price drops. In your mind, you're thinking 500 or 600 is reasonable. The broker says 750, and the deal is done,” the veteran insider and conservative said in comments carried by state media.

“Neither the seller really intended to sell for 750, nor were you ready to buy at that price. But in the end, it gets resolved. That’s negotiation.”

Pourmohammadi broadly defended Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s approval of negotiations with the United States, in remarks that appeared aimed at easing concerns in conservative quarters.

Khamenei’s evolving stance, he said, reflected “wise leadership” in a rapidly changing world. “You cannot say the Leader’s words at one time apply to all times and all cases,” Pourmohammadi said in remarks carried by local media.

“The world is turning moment by moment. We must have the power to make wise and timely decisions. This is the logic.”

Khamenei had in February called negotiations with Washington “unwise, undignified, and dishonorable.” His recent support for talks mediated by Oman and taking place during Donald Trump’s return to the presidency marks a notable shift, particularly given longstanding hardline distrust of US intentions.

Pourmohammadi said President Trump’s public threats were part of a broader political strategy. Referring to a letter Trump sent to Khamenei in March, he said: “If Trump had written in his letter what he said in public, he would never have received a reply. But his formal letters had a different tone, revealing his real politics.”

The cleric framed the current moment as part of a broader strategic contest. “It’s not as if there’s only one moment, one issue,” he said. “This is a psychological war, and the Leader is managing it with wisdom.”

Pourmohammadi has held several senior roles across administrations but is widely known for his involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 while serving on a state-appointed committee at Evin Prison.

Human rights organizations and exiled dissidents have linked him to the killings, which Amnesty International described as crimes against humanity. Pourmohammadi has defended the executions in past interviews, saying they were in line with the Islamic Republic's wartime policy.

Speaking at Friday prayers in Tehran, interim Friday prayer leader Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard said that Iran’s nuclear policy is rooted in a religious and political doctrine that prioritizes peaceful development while resisting external pressure.

"The Islamic Republic’s strategy is based on transparency about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, the development of nuclear technology, and the lifting of oppressive sanctions," he said.

His remarks come against the backdrop of renewed indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington, facilitated by Oman, with the second round held in Rome and third slated for Muscat on Saturday.

According to Aboutorabi-Fard, the talks were initiated "at the repeated request of the highest-ranking US official and are proceeding with caution due to America’s repeated breaches of previous commitments, especially the unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has characterized the Muscat-hosted dialogue as a test of American sincerity. "The talks in Oman are a test to gauge the seriousness of the US," Aboutorabi-Fard quoted the minister as saying. "Complete sanctions relief and legal guarantees can pave the way for real progress."

The Omani Foreign Ministry, which hosted the recent talks in Rome, said the goal is to reach a “fair and lasting nuclear agreement” that ensures Iran is free of nuclear weapons and also free from sanctions—while maintaining its right to peaceful nuclear development.

Tehran views the Omani statement as aligning closely with its own strategic roadmap. "This declaration reflects the correct direction of negotiations in line with Iran’s strategy," Aboutorabi-Fard added.

The Tehran cleric, like several other Friday prayer leaders representing the Supreme Leader, portrayed the current diplomacy as a product of strength.

“Without the slightest doubt, the negotiations began from a position of dignity and power,” he said. “Iran has the upper hand in defining the topics and principles of the negotiations.”

Aboutorabi-Fard added that effective diplomacy must be backed by national strength—particularly technological and military power. “Diplomacy without power is ineffective in securing national interests,” he said. “The accumulation of scientific capacity, especially in nuclear technology, is one of the pillars of Iran’s national strength.”

He added that the country’s deterrent military capabilities bolster the negotiating team. “Our defensive power and enhanced deterrent strength are reliable assets for the Muscat negotiations.”

While advocating for the removal of sanctions, Aboutorabi-Fard echoed Khamenei’s frequent warnings against relying too heavily on external negotiations to solve domestic problems.

“Sanctions relief can help create conditions for sustainable economic growth,” he said, “but without transforming our economic and administrative structures, and without cutting the dependency of the budget on oil, real economic progress will remain out of reach.”

He urged the parliament and government ministers to focus on structural reforms regardless of the outcome of talks with the United States.

Other Friday prayer leaders across Iran echoed similar sentiments, praising Iran’s scientific achievements while cautioning against overreliance on diplomacy.

The cleric in Ilam quoted Khamenei, saying: “The diplomacy apparatus should do its work, but don’t tie the country’s future to the negotiations.”

In Yezd, Mohammad-Reza Naseri warned: “Don’t trust the enemy’s slogans. Real progress comes from self-reliance and heeding the Leader’s advice.”

And in Shiraz and Shahrud, Friday prayer leaders marked the anniversary of the failed US military operation in Tabas in 1980 -- Operation Eagle Claw -- as a reminder of “divine protection” and resilience against foreign intervention.

Mashhad firebrand cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda questioned whether, "After witnessing so many miracles, is it right to still hinge our hopes on America as a problem solver?""Conditioning our lives on negotiations demonstrates a lack of faith in God's power."