There are conflicting accounts about whether the United States and Iran are speaking about ending the war, causing confusion in financial and energy markets. Here’s what we know.
What has Trump said?: On Saturday, Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours.
But on Monday, Trump abruptly announced a five-day pause on those strikes, claiming that the US had held “productive conversations” with Iran.
Later, Trump told CNN that Iran wanted to “make a deal.” He claimed the US had spoken to a “top person” in Iran’s regime, without saying who, and that there were “major points of agreement,” without elaborating.
What was Iran’s response?: Iran denied any talks with the US. As reports circulated that the US had liaised with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ghalibaf himself denied the rumors.
“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews (sic) is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” he wrote on X.
But on Tuesday, an Iranian source told CNN there had been “outreach” between the Washington and Tehran, and that Iran is willing to listen to “suitable” proposals to end the war.
What would Iran want from a deal?: Having twice been bombed by the US and Israel while talks were ongoing, Tehran will struggle to trust Washington, according to Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House.
“The Iranians have been ‘Trumped’ twice now,” Vakil told CNN. “They will be extremely skeptical.”
Iran will want “credible assurances” that it will not be attacked by either the US or Israel, she added.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has previously said that Iran’s conditions for ending the war include compensation for the destruction. Iran has also insisted that it will not relinquish its missile and drone arsenals or industry, which Trump had pledged to “raze … to the ground.”
How have others responded?: Some are seizing on the faint prospects for diplomacy. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has spoken with Iran and Egypt, as well as the US and European Union, about ending the war, a Turkish diplomatic source told CNN.
Meanwhile, Pakistan says it is “ready to host talks” between the US and Iran. Sources told CNN that Vice President JD Vance could attend proposed talks in Islamabad this week.
But Israel is showing little sign of wanting to end the war – either against Iran, or against Hezbollah in Lebanon. An Israeli source said a deal to end the Iran war was not “tangible right now.”