A direct channel of communication between US envoy Steve Witkoff, who implicitly takes the Russians at their word, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been restored in recent days, according to a US official and a source familiar with the situation.
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It is unclear how substantive the messages exchanged between Aragchi and Witkoff were, but this is the first known direct communication between the sides since the war began more than two weeks ago, Axios writes.
Witkoff is known to have sent messages to Araghchi, and Iranian officials say the Iranian foreign minister ignored them. Instead, a U.S. official claimed that it was Araghchi who was trying to negotiate, but told Axios that the U.S. “is not negotiating” with Iran.
Neither source detailed how many text messages the parties exchanged or their content.
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In turn, President Trump stated that there was some communication between Iran and the United States, but it was unclear whether Iranian officials were authorized to make the deal.
“They want to make a deal. They're talking to our people… we have people who want to negotiate, but we have no idea who they are,” Trump told reporters.
Despite his skepticism about Tehran's willingness to make a deal, Trump said he was not opposed to talks with the Iranians “because sometimes good things come out of it.”
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He noted that it is unclear who is making decisions in Iran, as many senior officials are dead. He also mentioned that Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen and may be dead.
A senior US official rejected Iran's demand for “reparations” as part of a peace deal, but said Trump was open to a deal that would allow Iran to “integrate with the rest of the world and make money from its oil.”
“The president is always open to a deal. But he does not negotiate from a position of weakness. He does not back down from the reasons that started this conflict,” the official said.
Iran is not interested in a temporary ceasefire that would allow the US and Israel to regroup and attack again, but wants guarantees that any peace deal will be permanent, officials said.
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American officials consider Araghchi to be a key interlocutor because they have a prior relationship with him, and he is at least alive.
Meanwhile, Trump unexpectedly asked for help from a number of countries, and Washington predicted the end of the war against Iran.