JERUSALEM, Israel – While the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks go on, Israelis are concerned the Iranian regime is stalling for time. Iran is also encroaching on an ancient Christian stronghold in Iraq, putting thousands of Christians’ lives at risk.
With the U.S. and Iran scheduled for more talks this Saturday, many in Israel are watching, waiting, and concerned.
Middle East analyst Yaakov Lappin told CBN News, “I think the central concern or the big unknown is whether or not the Trump administration is going to insist during these negotiations or with an uprooting or a total dismantlement of the nuclear program infrastructure in Iran.”
According to U.S. mediator Steve Witkoff, the initial talks focused on how far Iran could enrich uranium. He seemed to walk that back later in a post on X, writing, “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal … Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”
Lappin cautions that negotiating over enriching uranium follows the same road as previous administrations.
“It didn’t take apart the nuclear infrastructure, those underground sites and their centrifuges in Natanz and Fordo and other sites across Iran – you know, what Prime Minister Netanyahu described is the Libya model, which is really destroying the very ability to enrich uranium and not just freezing the uranium enrichment process. That’s the concern. That’s the big unknown,” Lappin explained.
Netanyahu made a surprise trip to Gaza on Tuesday to visit Israel Defense Forces troops on duty there.
He declared, “I want to tell you what we are fighting for and why we are fighting: This is a post that the dictator of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, issued today, in which he explains why Israel must be destroyed. He is doing this during negotiations with the Americans. We are fighting for our existence. We are fighting for our future.”
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Iran is not only threatening Israel, but also tens of thousands of Christians in northern Iraq. Nadine Maenza, the former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, is sounding an alarm.
“Unless the United States intervenes immediately, the historic Christian city of Qaraqosh in the Nineveh Plains of Iraq will fall tomorrow into the hands of U.S.-sanctioned Iranian-backed militia leader Rayan Kildani,” Maenza said. “Kildani has already ousted 14 other mayors and directors from the Nineveh Plains.”
Because of this immediate threat by an Iranian-backed leader, Maenza wrote a letter to President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, indicating that the White House has a powerful opportunity to protect the Christians of the Nineveh Plains.
She wrote, “My understanding from the people on the ground and in the government, that if the president of the United States or Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Prime Minister Sudani of Iraq, that he would likely put a pause on this and there would be further talks about what could happen going forward. So, we just urge the white House to intervene and talk to the Prime Minister of Iraq.”
Tens of thousands of Christians in the Nineveh Plains celebrated Palm Sunday, but Maenza claims this could be the last stand for the Christians there without immediate intervention.
“So we have this moment where we’re either going to see the extinction of the Christian church in the Nineveh plains, or we’re going to see an opportunity for them to actually come back and thrive. And this all comes down to the next 24 hours, what the white House chooses to do.”
Maenza says President Trump also has a golden opportunity to save believers in Jesus Christ and stop an Iranian takeover in northern Iraq.
She contended, “It gives Iran that land bridge they’ve always wanted. And again, geo-politically, this is an important piece of land to keep free from human trafficking, to keep drugs from moving, to keep weapons from moving. All of that will move through the Nineveh plains unless we get rid of these Iranian militias. And so this is an opportunity to do more, to save Christians in the Middle East, save Christians in the Nineveh plains, but also stop this land bridge that could also stop all of this terrible stuff that’s happening. That’s just adding to the instability in the Middle East.”
