Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly.
President Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitcoff,
is among those who will be sitting down with Iranian officials today in Oman.
The focus will be Iran's nuclear program.
The White House wants Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Last June, the U.S.
military struck three Iranian nuclear sites.
Currently, there's a large buildup of American naval assets in the Middle East.
Ahead of the talks in Oman,
Wittkopf was in the region for negotiations to end Russia's war with Ukraine,
as NPR's Charles Mainz reports.
Wittkopf calls the two days of talks constructive, the most immediate outcome,
the release of some 300 soldiers and another prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
Wittkopf also says the U.S.
and Russia have agreed to re-establish a military dialogue channel,
suspended following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022,
with Wittkopf calling it crucial to achieving and maintaining peace.
He had left unclear whether Russia and Ukraine are any closer to a deal either could accept.
Months of U.S.
diplomatic efforts have bogged down over Russia Russia's maximalist demands on Ukrainian territory and Ukraine's desire for ironclad security guarantees from the West.