Israel’s Mossad chief in US as Witkoff signals openness to Iran deal

Israel’s Mossad chief, David Barnea, arrived in the US on Friday, reportedly to meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff after President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack on plans to strike Iran.

On Thursday night, Witkoff said that he hopes for a diplomatic resolution with Iran but added that any agreement would have to address Iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium. Friday reports suggest that protests in Iran have subsided amid a fierce government crackdown, including strict curfews.

Iran Human Rights, an Oslo-based monitor, has reported that more than 3,400 people have been killed since protests erupted on Dec. 28. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported a wave of arrests in the western city of Kermanshah on Friday, while prominent Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami said, “The people demand the most severe punishment for the rioters and expect decisive action,” according to Iran’s Press TV.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that 800 planned executions "were halted” but reiterated Trump’s earlier warnings that there would be “grave consequences” if the killings continue.

Meanwhile, the USS Abraham Lincoln is expected to redeploy to the Middle East from the South China Sea as recently as early January, a US official familiar with the administration’s plans told Al-Monitor’s Jared Szuba.

On the diplomatic front, Russian President Vladimir Putin made calls to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as well as to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday morning. In his call with Netanyahu, Putin reportedly offered Russia’s help in mediating tensions with Iran.