Us Names Michael Anton To Lead Technical Talks With Iran

The Trump administration has named senior State Department official Michael Anton to lead the U.S. technical team in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, according to two U.S. officials, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions.

Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, is leading a team of about a dozen, largely career officials from across the government to hash out the details of an agreement that would place significant constraints on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

He is set to lead the first round of expert talks with Iranian officials over the weekend before special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meet again in Rome next week. Anton accompanied Witkoff to the last round of talks in Rome.

“He is the perfect man for the job given his experience and intellect. Most importantly, he will ensure that President Trump’s agenda on this file is followed through,” an administration official said.

Anton is a low-profile and increasingly powerful administration official who worked on the National Security Council in the first Trump administration and later served as a fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute. He has not yet staked out a public stance on the Iran file, which has long stoked intense and divisive debate in Washington.

The talks are advancing as the Trump administration is split over whether to pursue diplomacy or resort to military strikes to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Close ally Israel would like to see the U.S. attack now when Iran is weakened from previous strikes and with the hobbling of its main proxies.

President Donald Trump, however, has said he prefers a diplomatic solution.

It is unclear whether the U.S. will demand that Iran fully dismantle its nuclear program, which it asserts is only being used for civilian purposes, or work towards an arrangement that would allow Tehran to preserve some facilities subject to strict verification measures.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio saidin an interview with the Free Press released Wednesday that the U.S. was pursuing an arrangement that would allow Iran to import enriched uranium fuel so that Tehran could have a civilian nuclear program.

“There’s a pathway to a civil, peaceful nuclear program if they want one,” he said. “But if they insist on enriching, then they will be the only country in the world that doesn’t have a ‘weapons program,’ quote-unquote, but is enriching … that’s problematic.”

Witkoff has publicly shifted his stance on the talks since last week. After telling The Wall Street Journal and Fox News last week that the U.S. would focus on verification in any agreement, Witkoff later said the U.S. would not allow Iran to enrich uranium at all.