President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States had been negotiating an end to the war in Iran for the past two days, marking the first signal from the president of high-level talks with Tehran since the war began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes last month.
The talks had been “very good and productive,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, where he said he would delay strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure for the next five days “SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.” In a subsequent post, he also gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or risk renewed strikes.
Iranian state media denied that there had been any direct talks between the two countries ahead of Trump’s announcement, declaring that the president had backed down “following Iran’s firm warning.”
It’s impossible to know how much stock to put into Trump’s statement, as the president has offered various timelines for threats against Iran (and others) before but then struck while the clock was still ticking. Still, Trump’s rhetoric suggests that he may be more openly inclined to end the conflict than Israel, which has said it has weeks of targets it would yet like to strike.
The comments come after a challenging weekend for Israel, in which Iranian missiles landing in Arad and Dimona, the closest cities to Israel’s main nuclear research installation and reactor, left nearly 200 people injured, including some children.
“Iran continues to prove why they are an enemy to civilization and the free world, while now posing a direct threat to European countries. Israel and the U.S. will continue to act with great force against the Ayatollah terror regime,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a post on X Sunday alongside a video of him visiting the site of a missile strike in Dimona.
Trump told reporters on Monday that his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had conducted talks with Iran on Sunday evening, adding that a potential deal with Iran would include retrieving the country’s supply of enriched uranium so that it could not be turned into nuclear weapons.
“Israel will be very happy” with the terms of the deal, Trump said.
Asked who the United States had been speaking to on the Iranian side, which has lost many of its top leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump declined to give a name.
“A top person,” Trump replied. “Don’t forget: We’ve wiped out the leadership phase one, phase two and largely phase three. But we’re dealing with a man who I believe is the most respected and the leader, you know it’s a little tough, they’ve wiped out – we’ve wiped out everybody.”
Israeli sources told Israeli journalists that Iran’s hardline parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqher Qalibaf, is the main point person for Iran in the talks, which are being brokered by Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt.
Some Gulf states reportedly share the view widely held by Israelis, that now that a war has begun, it should continue until Iran is totally neutralized as a threat. A deal with Iran that preserves its regime would set the stage for ongoing tensions and renewed missile program.
Trump appeared optimistic on Monday.
“All I’m saying is, we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal,” he said before boarding Air Force One. “And I think, if I were a betting man I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
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