President Donald Trump will depart on a high-stakes Middle East tour this week designed to secure Gulf investment, advance Gaza ceasefire efforts, and confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions as Tehran hardens its position and Washington draws clear redlines.
According to Iran International, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei endorsed chants of “Death to America” at a workers’ rally in Tehran on Saturday, declaring that “Americans fully support Israel” and portraying Israel’s campaign in Gaza as part of a broader Western war effort.
Reuters reported that in Doha, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned state media that if Washington’s aim is to deprive Iran of its “nuclear rights,” Tehran “will not back down from any of its rights,” underscoring that peaceful uranium enrichment remains non-negotiable.
In Washington, Breitbart News described how Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, set a starkly different tone by declaring that “an enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our redline.”
He demanded the complete dismantlement of Iran’s Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan nuclear facilities and warned that negotiations would be halted if they proved “not productive.” US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee later echoed that stance on Israeli television, insisting that any accord must bar the Islamic Republic from retaining a weapons-capable nuclear program.
Trump’s vision for Iran’s nuclear future
Earlier this month on Meet the Press, Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he would accept “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program while welcoming only a strictly civilian energy sector, illustrating the gulf between US demands and Iran’s insistence on preserving its enrichment capabilities.
Two days before Trump’s remarks, Russia’s foreign ministry affirmed that Iran, as a non-nuclear-weapon state, has a legitimate right to develop civilian nuclear energy, and cautioned against penalizing a peaceful program – an implicit rebuke to the more stringent US stance.
Economic cooperation will underpin Trump’s itinerary. Arab News reported that the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday will convene global business leaders alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and key ministers, in hopes of unlocking new commitments across AI, advanced manufacturing, energy, and health care.
Riyadh aims to secure at least $600 billion in investments by 2030.
Gulf officials have also pressed the administration to ease export controls on advanced semiconductor chips and artificial intelligence technologies to accelerate their hi-tech ambitions. CNBC noted that these discussions come in the wake of a White House decision to rescind stringent AI export rules in favor of broader access for strategic partners.
Behind the scenes, former White House adviser Jared Kushner – whose role was pivotal in brokering the Abraham Accords – has quietly guided the administration’s economic agenda. According to CNN, Kushner has steered talks on marshaling Gulf funding for US infrastructure and technology projects, and on expanding normalization agreements with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Joining Trump on his tour will be Special Middle East Envoy Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. As Air Force One touches down in Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi, regional capitals will watch to see whether US resolve on the Iran nuclear standoff and the promise of Gulf investment can forge a lasting détente – or deepen existing divisions.
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