Iran must stop 'sponsoring terror’ to get a deal, Trump tells Arab leaders

While the sentence remains in place, the case has entered a new phase. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei has approved preliminary steps to examine the ruling.

“According to legal procedure, the case will be examined by relevant experts to assess whether the verdict contradicts Sharia,” Tataloo’s lawyer Majid Naghshi told the Revolutionary Guards-linked Fars News Agency.

“If confirmed, the file will be sent to a parallel court branch for a final ruling.” He added that the process occurs only once and emphasized, “No final decision has been made yet, but this is a step forward in the legal path.”

Tataloo’s sister, Naghmeh Maghsoudloo, also announced the decision, noting that the case is now under Supreme Court review.

The singer remains imprisoned in Tehran’s Fashafuyeh facility, serving a 10-year sentence for “encouraging corruption.” Other charges include disrupting Islamic law, operating a gambling platform and publishing obscene content.

A separate blasphemy case led to a three-year sentence for insulting sanctities and initially, a death sentence for insulting the Prophet—a charge from which he had first been acquitted before a later court reversed the ruling.

The 37-year-old artist had lived in Istanbul since 2018, where he remained active on social media and announced plans to establish a so-called “Sultan’s Palace,” inviting girls between 15 and 20 to join. Instagram removed his account in 2019 over misogynistic content and promotion of child marriage.

On December 4, 2023, Turkish police arrested Tataloo following a complaint from the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, which accused him of harassing consular staff. He was later extradited to Iran and taken into custody at the Bazargan border.

Public figures across Iranian cultural life have rallied in opposition to the sentence. Rapper Toomaj Salehi, footballer Mehdi Taremi, actress Sahar Ghoreishi and bodybuilding champion Hadi Choopan all denounced the ruling in separate statements.

“You insulted all my sisters. But my heart cannot bear your voice being silenced,” Salehi wrote online, referring to Tataloo's controversial remarks against Mahsa Amini, the girl whose death in police custody sparked Iran's 2022 Woman Life Freedom protests.

Tataloo’s uncle, Mohammadali Maghsoudloo, revealed in an interview that the singer married inside prison just one week ago. He added that officials have provided accommodations for Tataloo’s vegetarian diet while in custody.

Once promoted by state-linked figures—he famously released a pro-nuclear anthem in 2015 and appeared with Ebrahim Raisi during the 2017 campaign—Tataloo later became a pariah, accused of corrupting youth and drawing numerous complaints from many families, according to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency.

In court, he expressed remorse, saying, “I didn’t get proper training, and I made a mistake.” Court documents also referenced a personal letter in which he asked to “marry, have children and pursue music in the right way.”

Once the death sentence is lifted, the case will move into the hands of Iran’s Supreme Court—an uncommon reversal in a legal system rarely swayed by public figures or online campaigns.

The network facilitated "the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth billions of dollars to China on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS) and its front company, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars (Sepehr Energy)," a statement by the State Department said.

Iran International reported that Sepehr Energy company worked on behalf of the Iranian military and spawned a network of shell companies to sell sanctioned Iranian oil to Asia and did business with a Netherlands-based firm that was aware of its government ties.

Business documents and emails obtained by Iran International revealed a layered network of shell companies used to mask the military links and channel the sanctioned oil through foreign intermediaries.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department said "nearly two dozen firms operating in multiple jurisdictions in virtually every aspect of Iran’s illicit international oil trade" were targeted in the latest designations.

One of the entities sanctioned by the US Treasury on Tuesday was Xin Rui Ji, a company cited in Iran International's reporting.

"The Iranian government allocates billions of dollars’ worth of oil annually to its armed forces to supplement their budget allocations, underwriting the development of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as financing regional terrorist groups," the Treasury said.

The State Department also said that "the revenue from the sale of this oil funds the development of ballistic missiles and UAVs, nuclear proliferation, and Iran’s terrorist proxies, including the Houthis’ attacks on Red Sea Shipping, the US Navy, and Israel."

“Today’s action underscores our continued focus on intensifying pressure on every aspect of Iran’s oil trade, which the regime uses to fund its dangerous and destabilizing activities,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

“The United States will continue targeting this primary source of revenue, so long as the regime continues its support for terrorism and proliferation of deadly weapons.”

Before traveling to Saudi Arabia on May 12, Trump reaffirmed his opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, while praising Iranian negotiators for being, in his words, very reasonable and very intelligent.

Despite pillorying Tehran at length in a speech in Saudi Arabia the next day, the comments suggested an openness to continued dialogue—even amid mounting pressure from within his own ranks.

Trump’s position reflects a carrot-and-stick strategy: applying sanctions while keeping the door open for a potential deal. Yet, internal divisions are growing.

Middle East envoy and chief negotiator Steven Witkoff told Breitbart last week that no level of uranium enrichment should take place in Iran—opposing the allowances made under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Witkoff’s remarks echo those of hawkish Republicans who reject even limited enrichment under international monitoring. Witkoff once again aligned himself with that position, signaling that any new deal could be more restrictive than the 2015 deal.

In the same interview, however, Witkoff distanced himself from advocates of military action, accusing them of a “bias toward war.” He emphasized that Trump prioritizes diplomacy, arguing that critics underestimate the risks of armed confrontation.

The messaging—hardline on enrichment, moderate on military force—underscores the absence of a unified Republican policy.

Trump himself has sent conflicting signals. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on 7 May, he reaffirmed his desire to end Iran’s uranium enrichment but also indicated a willingness to hear justification for maintaining some nuclear infrastructure.

Elusive positions

A week—and one more round of talks—later, we are none the wiser about the Trump administration’s red lines.

US vice president J.D. Vance has taken a more flexible position, suggesting a tightly monitored, limited centrifuge program could be acceptable. His stance diverges from that of US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Witkoff’s latest, betraying disagreement at the very top.

In Tehran, the message has been more consistent—in public at least. The right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X on the eve of the fourth round of talks.

Enrichment, in reality, is what gives supreme leader Ali Khamenei the leverage he has always sought to face his western ‘enemies.’

Khamenei’s strategy, as far as can be surmised from his decisions in the last two decades, is to remain close to the nuclear threshold without crossing it, standing on the brink without falling into the abyss of war.

Despite this impasse, both sides agreed to extend the negotiations, signaling a desire to avoid blame for their collapse. Still, the fundamental disagreement over enrichment remains unresolved.

Witkoff has also called for the talks to address Iran’s regional conduct, particularly its support for armed groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis. He argues any deal should reduce the Islamic Republic’s hostile actions against the US and Israel.

These positions are yet to be formalized, but the rulers in Tehran appear to have used whatever influence they have with the Houthis to calm the Red Sea and ease pressure on Iran’s negotiators.

But the link between nuclear diplomacy and regional security remains tenuous.

Fraught issue

Historically, the US strategy on Iran’s nuclear program has fluctuated. The Bush administration failed to enforce a zero-enrichment model; the Obama administration accepted a 3.67% cap to delay Iran’s breakout capacity. Trump’s second-term ambitions appear to aim higher—but face the same practical limits.

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi asserted recently that completely eliminating Iran’s program may no longer be achievable.

Also significant is public opinion in the US. In a recent poll by the University of Maryland, more than two-thirds of respondents said they preferred a negotiated deal to curb Iran’s nuclear activities, with only 14% backing military action.

On this point at least, and for now, President Trump appears to be reflecting the popular will, letting diplomacy run its course while pursuing his maximum pressure campaign of sanctions, hoping to force Iranians to blink first.

Unclear to nearly all watching the talks—and perhaps even to those involved in it—is how far and how long he is willing to go without visible results.

Tehran as obstacle to regional peace

"The only thing still standing between this region and its unbelievable potential was a small group of rogue actors and violent thugs seeking constantly to drag the Middle East backward and into havoc, mayhem and indeed, into war. Unfortunately, instead of confronting these destructive forces, the last US administration chose to enrich them and empower them and give them billions and billions of dollars.

"Our task is to unify against the few agents of chaos and terror that are left and that are holding hostage the dreams of millions and millions of great people.

"The biggest and most destructive of these forces is the regime in Iran, which has caused unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen and beyond. There could be no sharper contrast with the path you have pursued on the Arabian Peninsula than the disaster unfolding right across in the Gulf in Iran."

A Persian Gulf of contrasts

"While you have been constructing the world's tallest skyscrapers in Jeddah and Dubai, Tehran's 1979 landmarks are collapsing into rubble and they had it going for a little while under a much different system but those buildings are largely falling apart.

"Iran's decades of neglect and mismanagement have left the country plagued by rolling blackouts lasting for hours a day ... While your skill has turned dry deserts into fertile farmland, Iran's leaders have managed to turn green farmland into dry deserts as their corrupt water mafia ... causes droughts and empty river beds. They get rich."

Syria and Lebanon

"Countless lives were lost in the Iranian effort to maintain a crumbling regime in Syria. Look at what happened with Syria and Lebanon, their Hezbollah proxies have pillaged the hopes of a nation whose capital Beirut was once called the Paris of the Middle East.

"Can you imagine all of this misery and so much more was entirely avoidable?

"If only the Iranian regime had focused on building their nation up instead of tearing the region down.

"In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace. That's what we want to see in Syria, they've had their share of travesty, war killing many years.

"I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance."

Enmity or peace with Iran

"In the case of Iran, I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don't like permanent enemies ... I want to make a deal with Iran.

"But if Iran's leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure drive Iranian oil exports to zero like I did before."

"(The US will) take all action required to stop the regime from ever having a nuclear weapon."

“These negotiations will be fully aligned with the Supreme Leader’s guidance, which will light our path,” Pezeshkian said during a meeting with a group of lawmakers. “We have not and will not tie the people’s livelihood to the outcome of the talks.”

Pezeshkian said that while Iran seeks dialogue without escalating tensions, it would not compromise on what he called national values. “We will not retreat from our principles under any circumstances,” he added. “At the same time, we are not seeking tension.”

Earlier in the day, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said the country is open to accepting temporary restrictions on uranium enrichment, though no detailed agreement has been reached.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, speaking after the fourth round of indirect talks with the United States in Oman, said negotiations have yet to address the specifics of enrichment levels.

The talks, described by both sides as difficult but constructive, mark the highest-level contact between Tehran and Washington since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 under former Trump administration.

Iran has since accelerated its enrichment to 60% purity—well above the deal’s 3.67% cap but below weapons-grade, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

While US officials have called for a full dismantlement of Iran’s enrichment capabilities, Tehran insists the right to enrich is non-negotiable.

Iran’s atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami,said on Tuesday that the nuclear program remains a pillar of national strength and is not subject to bargaining.

Western powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons—an allegation Tehran denies. Despite diplomatic engagement, the US continues to expand sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear and energy sectors.