Witkoff and Araghchi: the key figures steering US–Iran negotiations

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has been at the forefront of negotiations on Gaza and Ukraine, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi serves as Iran’s chief diplomatic representative abroad.

The two are set to meet in Muscat on Friday, following a deadly crackdown on a nationwide protest movement against the Islamic republic — a crisis that saw Washington threaten military action before ultimately agreeing to talks.

Below are brief profiles of the two lead negotiators:

Witkoff: from real estate to the global stage

Despite having no formal background in foreign policy, Steve Witkoff landed one of the most high-profile diplomatic roles as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, going on to lead negotiations on both Gaza and Ukraine.

The real estate tycoon first drew international attention when Trump credited him with helping broker what proved to be a short-lived truce in the Israel–Hamas war. Witkoff also participated in high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear programme last year — discussions that were cut short by Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic, briefly joined by the United States.

It was during those Oman-hosted talks that Witkoff first met Araghchi.

A 68-year-old billionaire and frequent golfing partner of Trump, Witkoff later became the first US official to visit Gaza since the war began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.

By October 2025, when Trump claimed credit for brokering the deal that finally ended the Gaza war, it was Witkoff — alongside Trump’s son-in-law and emissary Jared Kushner — who hammered out the US position and helped push the agreement through.

Witkoff has also led negotiations on Ukraine and, ahead of the Iran talks, was in Abu Dhabi for the latest round of discussions on the Ukraine war. As Trump reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s Russia policy, Witkoff came under fire from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has visited multiple times in Moscow.

With Trump determined to end wars he says Biden failed to resolve, the diplomatic stakes for Witkoff could hardly be higher.

Born on March 15, 1957, in New York’s Bronx borough, Witkoff built his fortune in real estate after starting out as a corporate lawyer. In 1997, he founded the Witkoff Group, which bills itself as part developer, part investor and part “landscape-changer”. His wife and one of his sons are involved in the business.

Araghchi: Iran’s seasoned diplomat

A career diplomat and one of the key architects of the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, Abbas Araghchi is pressing Washington to lift sanctions imposed on Iran.

The 63-year-old, who comes from a family of carpet traders, is fluent in English and has spent decades in Iran’s foreign ministry. Known for his calm manner, crisp beard and salt-and-pepper hair, Araghchi typically appears in a suit paired with a white, collarless shirt — a common style among Iranian diplomats.

Though he avoids the clerical tone dominant in Iran’s ruling circles, Araghchi played a prominent role last month in defending the leadership during a deadly crackdown on mass protests. As security forces crushed the movement, he became the regime’s chief international spokesman, giving interviews to global media outlets and even publishing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to justify the response.

Araghchi holds a bachelor’s degree from the foreign ministry’s Faculty of International Relations, a master’s in political science from Islamic Azad University, and a doctorate in political thought from the University of Kent in the UK.

After the 1979 Islamic revolution, he joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and fought on the front lines during the Iran–Iraq war in the 1980s. He later entered the foreign ministry as an international affairs specialist.

He was appointed foreign minister after President Masoud Pezeshkian took office in July 2024, partly to help repair strained ties with the West — relationships Araghchi was familiar with after helping negotiate the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, relations with European powers have worsened under his tenure. Tensions escalated after Araghchi criticised European governments for failing to condemn Israel’s war against Iran last June, and deepened further when France, the UK and Germany moved in late September to reinstate international sanctions, citing Iran’s failure to comply with the nuclear accord.

The JCPOA had already been severely weakened after the United States, during Trump’s first term, unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions on Tehran.