By AAMER MADHANI and MATTHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is betting that a beleaguered Iran is so vulnerable following a tumultuous 18 months in the Middle East that it might finally be ready to abandon its nuclear program.

The renewed push to solve one of the most delicate foreign policy issues facing the White House and the Mideast will begin in earnest Saturday when Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gather in Oman.

Trump says he prefers a diplomatic solution, even as he warns that Iran will face “great danger” if talks don’t go well. But Iran’s nuclear advances since Trump scrapped an Obama-era agreement during his first term make finding a pathway to a deal difficult, and experts warn that the prospects of U.S. military action on Iranian nuclear facilities appear higher than they have been in years.

“His ultimate goal and the ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday.

“But he’s made it very clear to the Iranians, and his national security team will as well, that all options are on the table and Iran has a choice to make. You can agree to President Trump’s demand or there will be all hell to pay,” she added.

The moment is certainly fraught, but the White House is seeing hopeful signs that the timing might be right. The push comes as Iran has faced a series of enormous setbacks that has ostensibly left Tehran in a weaker negotiating position.

Iran’s recent challenges

The military capabilities of Iranian-backed proxy forces Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been dramatically degraded by Israeli forces. U.S. airstrikes, meanwhile, targeting Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have hit oil refineries, airports and missile sites.

Israel also carried out strikes against Iran in October that damaged facilities linked to Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. And in December, Iran saw Syrian leader Bashar Assad — Tehran’s closest Mideast ally — ousted after more than two decades in power.

The leaders of the Islamic Republic also face domestic pressure as years of international sanctions have choked the economy. The U.S. Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions earlier this week targeting five entities and an individual that American officials say play key roles in Iran’s nuclear program.

“All eyes are on Oman by Iranians following this very closely and potentially hoping that this would impact the state of the economy,” said Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a Washington-based think tank.

But it remains to be seen if the U.S. can entice Iran with a big enough carrot for it to make concessions to meet Trump’s demands that any potential deal go further in ensuring Tehran doesn’t develop nuclear weapons than the agreement forged during Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67%. Today, it has enough to build multiple nuclear weapons if it chooses and has some material enriched up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

It’s not clear if talks will be face to face

At the meeting Saturday in Oman’s capital city of Muscat, Iran will be represented by Araghchi and the United States by Witkoff. It’s unclear if the two will speak directly.

Trump has said the two sides will have “direct” negotiations. But Iranian officials have insisted that the plan is for “indirect talks,” meaning an intermediary from Oman would shuttle messages between Witkoff’s and Araghchi’s teams holed up in different rooms.

Either way, the decision for the two sides to talk — announced by Trump in the Oval Office this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — came as a bit of a surprise.

Trump has been calling for direct talks, while threatening “consequences” for Iran if it doesn’t move to get a deal done.

Iran, meanwhile, has given mixed signals about the utility of the talks, arguing that engaging would be useless under the shadow of threats.

After Trump recently sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader, 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for direct negotiations, Tehran rejected the entreaty while leaving open the possibility of indirect negotiations.

President Masoud Pezeshkian again pledged this week that Iran’s “not after a nuclear bomb” and even suggested Tehran could be open to the prospect of direct American investment in the Islamic Republic if the countries can reach a deal.

That was a departure from Iran’s stance after its 2015 nuclear deal, in which Tehran sought to buy American airplanes but in effect barred U.S. companies from coming into the country.

How much room is there for negotiation?

National security adviser Mike Waltz has said Trump wants the “full dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program, adding, “That’s enrichment, that is weaponization, and that is its strategic missile program.”

But Trump left greater space for negotiations: “ The only thing that they can’t have is a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters as he met with his Cabinet secretaries Wednesday.

Witkoff also has signaled that the administration could be amenable to a deal that is less than full nuclear disarmament.

“Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability,” Witkoff said in a Wall Street Journal interview published Friday.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu, who met with Trump on Monday, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement along the lines of Libya’s deal with the international community in 2003. The Israeli leader is known for his hawkish views on Iran and in the past has urged Washington to take military action against Iran.

The Libya deal saw late dictator Moammar Gadhafi give up all of his clandestine nuclear program. Iran has insisted its program, acknowledged to the International Atomic Energy Agency, should continue.

But Trump has notably not embraced Netanyahu’s push for the Libya model, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, another Washington-based think tank.

“If it’s narrow, if it’s focused on the nuclear program, if the goal of the U.S. is to prevent a nuclear weapon, then there is a likelihood for success,” Parsi said. “And it’s under those circumstances that I suspect that you will see talks, perhaps in rather short order, be elevated.”

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Muscat, Oman, contributed to this report.

By KATHY McCORMACK

A Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey is demanding her release after she was detained by immigration officials near her Massachusetts home, detailing how she was scared when the men grabbed her phone and feared she would be killed.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who has since been moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana, provided an updated account of what happened to her as she walked along a street on March 25, in a document filed by her lawyers in federal court Thursday.

Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities whose visas were revoked or have been stopped from entering the U.S. after they were accused of attending demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians. On Friday, a Louisiana immigration judge ruled that the U.S. can deport Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil based on the federal government’s argument that he poses a national security risk.

FILE- This contributed photo shows Rumeysa Ozturk on an apple-picking trip in 2021. (AP Photo)

‘I felt very scared and concerned’

“I felt very scared and concerned as the men surrounded me and grabbed my phone from me,” Ozturk said in the statement. They told her they were police, and one quickly showed what might have been a gold badge. “But I didn’t think they were the police because I had never seen police approach and take someone away like this,” she said.

Ozturk said she was afraid because her name, photograph and work history were published earlier this year on the website Canary Mission, which describes itself as documenting people who “promote hatred of the U.S.A., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.”

She said the men didn’t tell her why they were arresting her and shackled her. She said at one point, after they had changed cars, she felt “sure they were going to kill me.” During a stop in Massachusetts, one of the men said to her, “We are not monsters,” and “We do what the government tells us.”

She said they repeatedly refused her requests to speak to a lawyer.

Hearing scheduled on Ozturk’s case in Vermont

A petition to release her was first filed in federal court in Boston and then moved to Burlington, Vermont, where a hearing on her case to resolve jurisdictional issues is scheduled on Monday.

Ozturk’s lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. They have asked that she be released from custody.

U.S. Justice Department lawyers say her case in New England should be dismissed and that it should be handled in immigration court. Ozturk “is not without recourse to challenge the revocation of her visa and her arrest and detention, but such challenge cannot be made before this court,” government lawyers said in a brief filed Thursday.

She recalled that the night she spent in the cell in Vermont, she was asked about wanting to apply for asylum and if she was a member of a terrorist organization. “I tried to be helpful and answer their questions but I was so tired and didn’t understand what was happening to me,” she stated.

Ozturk, who suffers from asthma, had an attack the next day at the airport in Atlanta, as she was being taken to Louisiana, she said. She was able to use her inhaler, but unable to get her prescribed medication because there was no place to buy it, she said she was told.

Ozturk says she wasn’t let outside for a week

Once she was put in the Louisiana facility, she was not allowed to go outside during the first week and had limited access to food and supplies for two weeks. She said she suffered three more asthma attacks there and had limited care at a medical center.

Ozturk said she is one of 24 people in a cell that has a sign stating capacity for 14.

“When they do the inmate count we are threatened to not leave our beds or we will lose privileges, which means that we are often stuck waiting in our beds for hours,” she said. “At mealtimes, there is so much anxiety because there is no schedule when it comes. … They threaten to close the door if we don’t leave the room in time, meaning we won’t get a meal.”

Ozturk said she wants to go back to Tufts so she can finish her degree, which she has been working on for five years.

Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said federal authorities detained Ozturk after an investigation found she had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.” The department did not provide evidence of that support.

Ozturk is supported by coalition of Jewish groups

A coalition of 27 Jewish organizations from across the United States is objecting to Ozturk’s arrest and detention.

The organizations say those actions and possible deportation of Ozturk for her protected speech “violate the most basic constitutional rights,” such as freedom of expression.

“The government … appears to be exploiting Jewish Americans’ legitimate concerns about antisemitism as pretext for undermining core pillars of American democracy, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of free speech and academic debate on which this nation was built,” the groups say in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Friday in her case.

By CLAUDIA LAUER and SALLY HO

All sense of survivors’ guilt was fleeting for those residents whose homes remained standing after wildfires ripped through the Los Angeles area three months ago.

Many worried that smoke from the Eaton wildfire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 18 people may have carried toxins, including lead, asbestos and heavy metals, into their homes. But they struggled to convince their insurers to test their properties to ensure it was safe to return.

Nicole Maccalla, a data scientist, said embers burned more than half of her roof, several windows and eaves were damaged, and her house in Altadena was left filled with ash, debris, soot and damaged appliances. She said her insurance adjuster said USAA would pay for contamination testing, but after choosing a company and coming back with the results, her claim was rejected. The adjuster said the company only covered testing in homes with major damage.

“Every single item is a battle,” said Maccalla. “It’s denials and appeals and denials and appeals, and you wait weeks and weeks and weeks for responses.”

Crowdsourcing contamination data

Maccalla and others banded together as Eaton Fire Residents United, sharing indoor environmental testing data and compiling the results in an online map. Of 81 homes tested so far for lead, all show elevated levels, according to the group.

“I’ve already had multiple people reach out and say: ‘Thank you for publishing this map … because my insurance company has changed their mind and approved testing,’” said Maccalla, who helped design the data collection to verify results and maintain privacy.

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Many homeowners paid privately for the testing after their insurance companies refused, revealing gaps in coverage. The group hopes the data will help residents who can’t afford it to convince their insurers to cover testing and remediation.

“If I can prove my community is not fit for human habitation then maybe I can show my home won’t be,” said Jane Lawton Potelle, founder of Eaton Fire Residents United.

It’s not easy to understand how and when it is safe to return home, Potelle said. The fine print of insurance policies can be frustrating and confusing, and the government has not stepped in to help.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it has no plans to conduct widespread environmental testing. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is tracking environmental testing largely by academic researchers and a handful from government agencies, but most studies assess outdoor contamination.

Toxic air and limited coverage

Reports from other urban wildfires, in which building materials, appliances, cars and more burn at incredibly high temperatures, show increased levels of heavy metals including lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzene that are tied to negative health risks. But insurance companies haven’t standardized testing for those contaminants.

Home insurance broadly covers fire damage, but there is a growing dispute over what damage must be covered when flames don’t torch the property.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara released a bulletin in March that put the onus on companies to properly investigate reported smoke damage, saying they cannot deny such claims without investigating thoroughly, including paying for professional testing as warranted. But many residents have been left to fight for coverage anyway.

Janet Ruiz, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute that represents many major insurance companies, said it’s hard to compare neighbors because every claim is unique due to each home’s physical structure, actual damage and defined insurance coverage limits.

“It can vary and insurance companies are sensitive to what the claim is,” Ruiz said. “You have to work with your insurance companies and be reasonable about what may have happened.”

Dave Jones, director of the Climate Risk Initiative at University of California, Berkeley, and former state insurance commissioner, said testing should be covered even though some insurance companies disagree.

“It’s perfectly reasonable for people to have some kind of environmental test done so that their home is safe and their property is safe,” Jones said. “We’re talking about very catastrophically high temperature fires where all sorts of materials are melted and some of them become toxic.”

State plan struggles

The state’s insurer of last resort, known as the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, has been scrutinized for years over how it handles smoke damage claims. A 2017 change to the FAIR Plan limited coverage to “permanent physical changes,” meaning smoke damage must be visible or detectable without lab testing for claims to be approved. State officials said that threshold was too high and illegal, and ordered a change.

Dylan Schaffer, an attorney leading a class action lawsuit challenging FAIR Plan’s threshold, said he was surprised private carriers are disputing similar fire damage claims.

“The damage is not due to smoke, the damage is contamination from fire,” Schaffer said. “They make it complicated because it saves them money.”

Meanwhile, Altadena residents on the FAIR Plan say their claims are still being denied. Jones believes the debate will only end when lawmakers take action.

FAIR Plan spokeswoman Hilary McLean declined to comment on the ongoing litigation and individual cases, but said the FAIR Plan pays all covered claims based on the adjusters’ recommendations.

“Our policy, like many others, requires direct physical loss for there to be coverage,” McLean said.

Worries over kids’ safety

Potelle said the first inkling that her house might be toxic came after meeting with her AAA insurance adjuster in the days after the fire. Even though she had worn a mask, her chest still ached and her voice rasped, and she wondered whether her home was safe for her 11-year-old.

Stephanie Wilcox said her toddler’s pediatrician recommended testing their home. Her Farmers Insurance policy includes coverage for lead and asbestos in addition to her wildfire coverage, but after multiple denials, she paid out of pocket.

“After the initial inspection, (Farmers) had told us remediation would cost about $12,000 and that it would be habitable, like we could move back in tomorrow,” she said. “But now there’s no way.”

She plans to ask for a new estimate including lead abatement and other costs, citing the results.

Similarly, Zach Bailey asked in late January for contamination testing. The house he shares with his wife and toddler sits in an island of largely spared homes among blocks wiped out by the fire. After months of denials, State Farm agreed to pay for lead and asbestos testing because the remediation company cited federal worker safety regulations.

It shouldn’t have been that hard, he said.

“It feels like the insurance companies should have a playbook at this point,” he said. “They should have a process to keep people safe because this isn’t the first disaster like this.”

By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s move to classify thousands of living immigrants as dead and cancel their Social Security numbers is an escalation of the president’s crackdown on people who were legally allowed to live in the U.S. under programs instituted by his predecessor.

The move will make it much harder for affected immigrants to use banks or other basic services where Social Security numbers are required.

The White House says that “by removing the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport.”

However, the affected individuals newly added to the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File” are in the country legally. Immigrant advocates say the administration is committing “digital murder.”

Here’s what we know about the administration’s plan to note some immigrants as dead in Social Security data:

Who is being affected?

A Trump administration official said the SSA moved roughly 6,300 immigrants’ names and Social Security numbers to a database that federal officials normally use to track the deceased after the Department of Homeland Security identified them as temporarily paroled aliens on the terrorist watch list or with FBI criminal records.

The administration has not provided evidence of this assertion.

The SSA maintains the most complete federal database of individuals who have died, known as the Death Master File. It contains more than 142 million records going back to 1899.

In its latest move, the White House has taken to referring to it as the “Ineligible Master File.”

Effective April 8, Customs and Border Patrol terminated parole for all these individuals with written notice to each of them, the Trump administration official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and discussed the development on condition of anonymity.

What happens when you lose access to a Social Security number?

Without a Social Security number, you cannot legally get a job, collect Social Security benefits or receive certain government benefits. Some school districts may prevent children from enrolling in school without a Social Security number.

And while some banks allow people to open an account without a Social Security number, stripping immigrants of their Social Security numbers will cut them off from many other financial services.

Devin O’Connor, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that the move is unprecedented and that never before have people been deliberately added to death rolls when they are still alive.

“The administration is saying they have the right to declare someone as dead when they have not died — where is the oversight here?” O’Connor asked. “And what happens when they make a mistake?”

Former Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley told The Associated Press, “The police state is here, now.” The administration’s latest move violates privacy rules meant to protect everyone’s personal data, he said.

How does this affect the broader public?

Experts warn that the targeting of immigrants could just be the beginning.

O’Connor said, “The idea that you can rename the Death Master File and decide you can put people on the list as persona non grata” is unheard of and should concern everyone.

“If they can do it to one group, they can do it to anyone — in error or in malice,” Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, posted on the BlueSky social media app Thursday.

“A person must be (asterisk)lawfully admitted(asterisk) to the U.S. to be assigned a Social Security number,” she said in another post.

“Don’t let the Trump Administration gaslight you. Their ‘digital murder’ policy isn’t about undocumented immigrants. It’s about people who came here legally.”

How else is the administration tracking down immigrants?

Earlier this week, DHS revoked the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who used the CBP One app. They had generally been allowed to remain in the U.S. for two years with work authorization under presidential parole authority during the Biden era but are now expected to self-deport.

Additionally, DHS and the Treasury Department signed a deal this week that would allow the IRS to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S. The agreement will allow ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.

The acting IRS commissioner, Melanie Krause, who had served in that capacity since February, stepped down over that deal.

Advocates say the Treasury-DHS information-sharing agreement violates privacy laws and diminishes the privacy of all Americans.