With his campaign promises unfulfilled to quickly bring peace to Gaza and Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has turned to another high-profile challenge that could be just as elusive: curbing Iran’s escalating nuclear program. His administration plans a second round of talks with Iran on Saturday in Rome that few thought possible after years of hostility dating back to the Republican president’s first term, when he scrapped a 2015 nuclear deal and imposed a “maximum pressure” campaign of crippling sanctions. While no one is ruling out the potential for progress after a meeting in Oman last weekend that both sides described as positive, negotiators are lowering any expectations of a swift breakthrough in the decades-long dispute. Debate on elements of a potential framework nuclear deal is at a very early stage among Trump’s aides, said a source briefed on a White House meeting with the president on Tuesday. The two sides could reach an interim deal ahead of a more detailed agreement, said two sources familiar with White House thinking. Adding to regional tensions surrounding the diplomatic effort is Trump’s repeated threat to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites if a deal cannot be reached. That would mean that Trump, who pledged in his January 20 inaugural speech to be a “peacemaker,” could drive the US into a new conflict in the Middle East. Trump said on Thursday he was not in a rush to strike Iran, insisting that negotiations were his first option. “If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they’re wanting to talk. It’s going to be very good for them if they do.” Leading the US negotiating team is Steve Witkoff, a Trump friend and real estate investor with no prior diplomatic experience who some analysts have nicknamed the administration’s “envoy for everything.” He has been tasked with getting a deal with Iran in addition to ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, both of which have raged on. Across the table will be Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, a shrewd negotiator who some Western diplomats worry will take advantage of Witkoff’s lack of expertise. “Having to balance Gaza and Ukraine and Iran would be a challenge from a bandwidth perspective for anyone,” said Jonathan Panikoff, former deputy US national intelligence officer on the Middle East, of Witkoff’s assignment. “But that’s especially (the case) with Iran, given the amount of technical details, history, regional geopolitical considerations, and broader complexities,” added Panikoff, now with the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington. Witkoff has one distinctive negotiating asset: his direct line to Trump, which should signal to the Iranians they are getting the president’s views from someone he trusts. Whether that will help the administration’s effort to secure a deal remains to be seen.