By MARCIA DUNN, Associated Press Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The nominee for NASA’s top job, billionaire spacewalker Jared Isaacman, outlined his vision for space exploration on Wednesday that prioritizes sending astronauts to Mars.

President Donald Trump nominated Isaacman to become NASA’s 15th administrator late last year. If confirmed, the tech entrepreneur would become the youngest person to lead the space agency that is eyeing returning astronauts to the moon and among only a handful of administrators to have actually rocketed into orbit.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee gathered in Washington for the nomination hearing.

“As the president stated we will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars. Along the way, we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon, Isaacman said in his written testimony.

Isaacman, 42, has already flown in space twice, buying his own trips with SpaceX, and performed the world’s first private spacewalk last September. He made his fortune with a payment processing company he started as a high school dropout in his parents’ basement, now called Shift4.

He acknowledged in his testimony that he is not “a typical nominee for this position.”

“I have been relatively apolitical; I am not a scientist and I never worked at NASA” he said in his written remarks. “I do not think these are weaknesses.”

The space agency and others were anxious to hear Isaacman’s stand on the moon and Mars for human exploration, given his close association with SpaceX’s Elon Musk.

In the audience were the three U.S. astronauts and one Canadian assigned to NASA’s flight to the moon planned for next year.

NASA has been pitching the moon as the next logical step for astronauts for years. The Artemis program aims to send a crew around the moon next year and land astronauts near the moon’s south pole as early as 2027. Lunar bases are planned this time around, not just quick visits like the ones during NASA’s Apollo missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Artemis has been slow going and expensive, especially for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. It’s only blasted off once so far — in 2022 without a crew.

Musk favors Mars as a destination, as he ramps up more test flights out of Texas for Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. By making Starship reusable, he intends to dramatically lower costs of getting people and equipment to the red planet.

NASA has chosen Starship for its first two astronaut landings on the moon under Artemis, named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

On Monday St. Paul Public Works will begin the annual residential street sweeping operations with crews hitting approximately 530 miles of roadway in the city. After that, Public Works will sweep more than 2,200 alleys.

The effort is expected to take roughly six weeks, if the weather permits, according to city officials.

Sweeping helps remove dirt and refuse from streets. It also clears away material such as leaves and grass clipping to keep them from entering the city’s storm sewer system and, ultimately, from streams, lakes and rivers.

“Sweeping is a critical part of our year-round operations that keeps our streets and storm sewer systems clear of debris, and also protects our waterways,” said Sean Kershaw, director of St. Paul Public Works, in a statement. “Residents are essential partners in helping us clean the streets. Please move your vehicles off the streets so the sweeping crews can get all the materials out of the gutters. Also do not put any additional debris in the street.”

There are No Parking Overnight Sanitation Ban areas for specific days on arterial streets throughout the city including downtown St. Paul. These signed areas are swept year-round overnight, according to city officials. The intent is to do the work with less traffic. Residents are asked to be aware of overnight no parking signs and move vehicles as necessary.

Businesses and residents can assist with sweeping efforts by:

• Moving vehicles and following all posted temporary “No Parking” signs. Temporary “No Parking” signs will be posted 24 hours in advance. Vehicles parked in areas with “No Parking” signs may be ticketed and towed.

• Following all posted overnight “No Parking” signs. Many of the city’s arterial streets, including downtown, have posted signs indicating an overnight timeframe and/or days that residents are not allowed to park on the street. This allows sweeping crews to safely work with less traffic.

• Not pushing materials, such as leaves, grass, or debris into the street. Properly bag and dispose of these materials.

• Not placing garbage or recycling carts in streets. Make sure carts are only placed on boulevards, not streets.

• Adopting a storm drain in their neighborhood. By adopting a storm drain residents promise to help keep it free of debris in the coming months. Learn more at stpaul.gov/adoptadrain.

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By NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president again pledged Wednesday that his nation is “not after a nuclear bomb” ahead of talks between Tehran and the United States, going as far as dangling the prospect of direct American investment in the Islamic Republic if the countries can reach a deal.

The comments by reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian represent a departure from Iran’s stance after its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, in which Tehran sought to buy American airplanes but in effect barred U.S. companies from coming into the country.

“His excellency has no opposition to investment by American investors in Iran,” Pezeshkian said in a speech in Tehran, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “American investors: Come and invest.”

Such a business proposal could draw the interest of U.S. President Donald Trump, who withdrew America from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in his first term and now seeks a new agreement with the country.

Pezeshkian, who campaigned on a platform of outreach to the West during his election last year, also added that Saturday’s talks in Oman between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff would be conducted “indirectly.” Trump has said the talks would be direct negotiations — something Tehran hasn’t ruled out after the first round of discussions.

“We are not after a nuclear bomb,” Pezeshkian added. “You (in the West) have verified it 100 times. Do it 1,000 times again.”

Iran long suspicious of business links to US

In 2015, Khamenei opposed importing American consumer goods into Iran.

“We neither allow economic influence, nor political influence and presence as well as cultural influence by Americans in our country,” he said then. “We will confront it by all means, we will not allow.”

But after Trump’s comments on the talks went public, Iran’s ailing economy showed new signs of life. Its rial currency, which hit a record low of over 1 million rials to the dollar, rebounded Tuesday to 990,000 rials.

Iran’s economy has been severely affected by international sanctions, particularly after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. At the time of the 2015 deal, which saw Iran drastically limit its enrichment and stockpiling of uranium in exchange for lifting of international sanctions, the rial traded at 32,000 to the dollar.

There also appeared to be a direct influence from the top on how hard-line media reported the upcoming talks Wednesday as there was no criticism of the negotiations whatsoever — something highly unusual in Iran’s fractious internal politics.

“At first, Iran may unilaterally accept a decrease in enrichment. This should not be considered a withdrawal,” the hard-line newspaper Javan, believed to be close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said in an editorial.

“Keeping the nuclear industry and enrichment that meets our needs is what we have been saying and seeking for years. In return for a decrease of the level of enrichment and an increase of monitoring, Iran should gain concessions on lifting all sanctions and stopping open hostility through the support to the opposition” by the U.S.

Pezeshkian himself spoke at an event marking Iran’s National Nuclear Technology Day, which in the past had seen Tehran show off advances in centrifuge technology that worried the West. This year it focused on medical applications and other projects.

Protest in Tehran mocks US and Israel

However, not everyone agrees with the U.S. outreach. There had been anger toward Trump from Iran’s theocracy, particularly over his decision to launch a drone strike that killed prominent Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020. U.S. officials have said Trump faced assassination threats from Iran in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.

A protest in Tehran on Wednesday drew some hundreds people and saw demonstrators burn an effigy of the U.S. flag, chanting both “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Fake coffins for Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat to one side as protesters also carried signs decrying the death of civilians in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

“Negotiations with whom? With a murderer? With an occupier?” asked one woman holding a “Death to Israel” placard who declined to give her name at the protest for fear of reprisal. “We should keep these in mind. They always show their true nature.”

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union member states have voted to approve retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

The tariffs will go into effect in stages, with some on April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU executive commission didn’t immediately provide a list of the goods Wednesday.

Members of the 27-country bloc repeated their preference for a negotiated deal to settle trade issues: “The EU considers U.S. tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy. The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the U.S., which would be balanced and mutually beneficial.”

The head of the EU’s executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has offered a zero-for-zero tariffs deal on industrial goods including cars. But Trump has said that’s not enough to satisfy U.S. concerns.