Trump moving away from coercion rhetoric, Khamenei advisor says

Iran’s nuclear negotiating team lacks an economic expert, even though sanctions have inflicted major damage on the country’s economy, the Iranian economic daily Donyaye Eghtesad reported on Saturday.

"There is no report of any economic expert being part of Iran’s negotiating team against Witkoff," the daily said. "This comes despite the fact that the most serious harm during the sanctions period has been economic."

While Iranian officials have occasionally spoken about the economy and foreign investment opportunities, "there is no information suggesting even one economic advisor or sanctions specialist is part of the delegation," it added.

Deputy Foreign Ministers Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Kazem Gharibabadi are leading Iran’s technical delegation in the expert-level talks with the United States. The delegation also includes Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, BRICS affairs director Kamal Dehghani, and nuclear deal expert Behzad Saberi among others, according to Donyaye Eghtesad.

Negotiations with the United States could succeed if approached strategically, said the former senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and current head of Iran's Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences.

"Indirect negotiation can be a path to success and is not inherently a sham," Mohammad Javad Larijani told Farhikhtegan conservative daily on Saturday.

He cautioned Iranian officials against projecting weakness, arguing that desperation, not criticism, undermines Tehran’s position. "It is the logic of desperation that weakens us, not legitimate criticism," he said.

Larijani criticized past nuclear talks for yielding too much without ensuring verifiable steps from Washington and said that negotiating without verifying promises would risk Iran becoming, in his words, "America's dairy cow."

Video published by state media shows Iran’s diplomatic and expert delegations conferring in Muscat ahead of US talks on Saturday.

Iran and the United States are set to hold technical talks first in Oman on Saturday, followed by high-level negotiations, AFP reported.

The US President Donald Trump resembled "a sheep wearing a wolf’s mask," Iran’s ultra-hardline Kayhan newspaper, managed by a representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday.

"Trump is addicted to empty boasts and is like a sheep that has put on a wolf’s mask," Kayhan wrote in an editorial.
"If America had even the slightest chance of success in its threats of military action against Iran, it would not hesitate for a moment."

The editorial said US threats were a cover for seeking concessions in negotiations, adding that Iran’s "proven strength" had deterred Washington from taking military action.