WASHINGTON: The Washington Post said Saturday its CEO and publisher Will Lewis was leaving effective immediately, just days after the storied newspaper owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made drastic job cuts that angered readers.

Though newspapers across the United States have been facing brutal industry headwinds, Lewis’s management of the outlet was sharply criticised by subscribers and employees alike during his two-year tenure as he tried to reverse financial losses at the daily.

Lewis, who is English, has been replaced by Jeff D’Onofrio, a former CEO of social media platform Tumblr who had joined the Post as chief financial officer last year, the paper announced.

In an email to staff shared on social media by one of the newspaper’s reporters, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

A statement from the Post said only that D’Onofrio was succeeding Lewis “effective immediately.”

Hundreds of Post journalists — including most of its overseas, local and sports staff — were let go in the sweeping cuts announced on Wednesday.

The Post did not disclose the number of jobs being eliminated, but The New York Times reported approximately 300 of its 800 journalists were laid off.

The paper’s entire Middle East roster was let go as was its Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent as the war with Russia grinds on.

Sports, graphics and local news departments were sharply scaled back and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended, local media reported.

Hundreds turned out Thursday at a protest in front of the paper’s headquarters in downtown Washington.

Editorial interference

Newspapers across the country have cratered under falling revenues and subscriptions as they compete for eyeballs with social media, and as internet revenue pales in comparison to what print advertising once commanded.

However, national papers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have managed to weather the storm and come out financially solid — something the Post, even with a billionaire backer, has failed to do.

In Lewis’s note to staff, shared on X by White House bureau chief Matt Viser, Lewis said “difficult decisions have been taken” during his tenure “in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news.”

Bezos, one of the world’s richest people, was quoted in the Post’s statement saying that the paper has “an extraordinary opportunity. Each and every day our readers give us a roadmap to success. The data tells us what is valuable and where to focus.”

He and Lewis have come under scrutiny for intervening directly in the paper’s editorial processes.

Bezos reined in the newspaper’s liberal-leaning editorial page and blocked an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris days before the 2024 election — breaking the so-called firewall of editorial independence.

He was widely seen as bowing to Donald Trump, who went on to win the election.

The decision also apparently had financial consequences: The Wall Street Journal reported that 250,000 digital subscribers left the Post after it refrained from endorsing Harris, and the paper lost around $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues fell.

As president, Trump has heaped direct pressure on journalists, launching multiple lawsuits against media organisations.

A withered Post, critics worry, will leave the country’s press corps less able to hold the government accountable.

Marty Baron, the Post’s executive editor until 2021, said that the job cuts ranked “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

• Wednesday’s meeting to be 7th between two leaders since Jan last year.
• Meeting was moved up from the originally scheduled February 18.
• Netanyahu’s office has not commented on why date was changed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.

Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. Both sides said more talks were expected soon.

A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, and that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.

Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

Netanyahu seeks missile curbs

“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Wednesday’s meeting would be the seventh between Netanyahu and Trump since the US president returned to office in January last year.

The pair had been expected to meet on February 18, but the talks were brought forward amid the renewed engagement with Iran. A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment on why the date was moved up.

Last June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear installations, marking the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.

Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.

The US and Israel have repeatedly warned Iran that they would strike again if Tehran pressed ahead with its enrichment and ballistic missile programmes.

World powers and regional states fear that a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.

Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighbouring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.

• Iran to target US bases in region if attacked: Abbas Araghchi.
• Trump calls talks “very good”, pledges another round next week.
• US announces new Iran oil sanctions moments after Oman talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday he hoped talks with the United States would resume soon, while reiterating Tehran’s red lines and warning against any American attack.

According to excerpts published on his official Telegram channel during an interview with the Al Jazeera network, Araghchi said that Iran’s missile programme was “never negotiable” in Friday’s talks in Oman.

He warned that Tehran would target US bases in the region if the US attacked Iranian territory.

However, Araghchi also said that despite the talks in Muscat being indirect, “an opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation”.

He called the talks “a good start”, but added that building trust would take time. He said the talks would resume “soon”.

US President Donald Trump on Friday called the talks “very good”, and pledged another round of negotiations next week.

Despite this, he signed an executive order effective from Saturday that called for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries still doing business with Iran.

The United States also announced new sanctions against numerous shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera that nuclear enrichment was Iran’s “inalienable right and must continue”.

“We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,” he said.

“The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.”

He also said Iran’s missile programme was “never negotiable” because it relates to a “defence issue”.

Washington has sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks, according to media reports.

Tehran has repeatedly rejected expanding the scope of the negotiations beyond the nuclear issue.

Friday’s unprecedented talks between the two arch enemies came amid a major US military buildup in the region in the wake of Iran’s crackdown on protests that began in late December, driven by economic grievances.

Aragchi warned that Iran “will attack their (US) bases in the region” if Washington targets Iranian territory.

The negotiations were the first since nuclear talks between Iran and the United States collapsed last year following Israel’s unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, which triggered a 12-day war.

During the war US warplanes bombed Iranian nuclear sites.

Araghci told Al Jazeera that if attacked again, “we will attack their bases in the region”, referring to the United States.

At Friday’s talks in Oman the US delegation was led by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“In a very positive atmosphere, our arguments were exchanged and the views of the other side were shared with us,” Araghchi told Iranian state TV after the talks, adding that the two sides had “agreed to continue negotiations”.

Speaking to the official Irna news agency, Araghchi expressed hope that Washington would refrain from “threats and pressure” so that “the talks can continue”.

On Saturday, Araghci criticised what he labelled a “doctrine of domination” that allows Israel to expand its military arsenal while pressuring other states in the region to disarm.

He was speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum conference in Qatar, but in his speech made no reference to Friday’s talks in Oman with the United States.