Negotiations, dialogue, diplomacy, agreement, peace. There are words that excite. It’s obvious. If they arise in a context like the current one, just before he turns one month old, when a conflict that literally affects the entire world becomes chronic, hope soars even more.
On Monday, the North American president, , annulled the ultimatum that he had issued against the Ayatollah regime, by which he threatened to burst all its energy infrastructures if it did not open the key funnel through which 20% of the world’s supply of gas and oil or food for one hundred million people passes. He gave him five extra days, until Friday, due to the alleged contacts that the two parties were having to end the war.
The surprise came: there were conversations, said the Republican, and they were “deep, detailed and constructive,” in his own words. Since then, the world has been watching a game of ping pong, and no one knows how much of it is true or misleading, substantive or propaganda. Washington insists that it is talking, while Tehran denies it and promises to fight, it says, “until total victory.”
Pakistan, Egypt and Gulf Arab nations are quietly trying to engage in talks, but their efforts still appear preliminary. Israel vows to continue its attacks. And what is seen in the last few hours is, of course, not a de-escalation: cross bombings have been launched in Iran and Israel, projectiles have fallen in Iraq and the ground invasion of southern Lebanon continues. Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. Marines and the Army were preparing to deploy at least 1,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days.
on the table
Up to four media (, , and the ) have reported this past morning that the Trump Administration offered Iran, late on Tuesday, a 15-point plan that proposed . Apparently, it seeks to negotiate a ceasefire and hostilities in the Middle East and, mainly, to ensure the free transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
It includes general lines related to the nuclear program, as has emerged: no more research, delivery of already highly enriched uranium, no more long-range missiles. These are the maximalist lines that were already known in the week before the attacks, when the parties were negotiating in Geneva.
Axios maintains that negotiators are preparing a meeting in Islamabad “this week”, in which the US vice president would participate; the president’s son-in-law, ; and his chief negotiator, . On behalf of Iran, the president of the Iranian Parliament and other figures from the ayatollah regime would attend. However, Qalibaf denied any approach on social media. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, , has assured that British intelligence has learned of these conversations through intermediaries.
US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after a meeting of the Coalition of Volunteers for Ukraine, January 6, 2026, in Paris.
The AP reports that Witkoff and Kushner held talks with an Iranian leader on Sunday. It doesn’t specify who it was. The US agreed “in principle” to join the talks in Pakistan, according to three Pakistani officials, an Egyptian official and a Gulf diplomat, as mediators continued to work to convince Iran. The Egyptian official stated that efforts are focused on “building trust” between the United States and Iran, with the aim of achieving a truce in the fighting and a “mechanism” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
This same agency points out that the cabinet of the Prime Minister of Israel, who had been advocating for Trump to continue the war against Iran, were surprised by the presentation by the US Government of a ceasefire plan. However, as Trump is moving to send additional soldiers and marines, the move is being interpreted as a move by Trump to have “maximum flexibility” about what he will do next, one of his sources added.
Tonight, President Trump also made one of his cryptic statements that no one really knows what they mean. He says Iran has given the US a gift related to oil. “They gave us a gift and the gift arrived today, and it was a very big gift, worth a lot of money,” he announced to reporters in the Oval Office. “It had nothing to do with nuclear energy, but with oil and gas, and what they did was a very nice thing.” It has to do with Hormuz, it seems, but nothing else is known.
The president did not give details of what it is about, but half of his country assures that said “gift” is not a physical object but rather an economic concession of enormous significance. In recent hours, Tehran has allowed the passage of “non-hostile” oil tankers.
What can you talk about?
The nuclear negotiations, as we said, were already underway when the two Western allies launched their surprise attack on February 28. Killing Khamenei in the first hours only increased Iranian distrust of the Americans in the negotiations, especially after Trump’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from the.
Iran and the US already held a round of negotiations in early 2025, and when the two-month deadline set by Trump expired, Israel attacked Iran by surprise, an attack that the White House joined in, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and military positions.
Trump declared on Monday that any agreement to end the war would involve the US removing Iran’s enriched uranium, critical to its controversial nuclear program. Iran has refused this demand in the past, insisting that it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. A less ambitious goal for the talks could be reaching a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Vantor satellite image showing the Natanz nuclear complex and surrounding infrastructure in Isfahan province, Iran, on March 1, 2026.
But Abbas Araghchi, the regime’s foreign minister, appeared to reject any partial agreement in an interview with last Wednesday. “We do not believe in ceasefire. We believe in the end of the war… the end of the war on all fronts,” he said, emphasizing the need to find solutions to conflicts throughout the region.
Axios He emphasizes that reading this morning: he says that his negotiators convey that Trump has deceived them twice. “We don’t want to be fooled again,” say those sent to talk to Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye. Even so, this medium insists on the seriousness of the extended hand and gives as an example of this the possibility that Vance himself will negotiate.
Who is in charge in Iran and what does he say?
The agency maintains that Iran, although it says that it is not talking about anything, continues to ask the same thing from its aggressors: that the US pay “reparations”, that it guarantee that it will not attack its country in the current way and that both parties agree on a new framework for Hormuz, which provides stability for the passage of ships.
The question is not only if and how to talk, but with whom. Despite weeks of intense bombing and the assassination of its supreme leader, , and many top military commanders, Iran’s leadership appears to have remained relatively cohesive, mind you, but it is unknown who is actually in charge. The new supreme leader, the Ayatollah, has not been seen or heard from since he was appointed to replace his father. It is said that he is injured, disfigured, according to US espionage.
Within the Islamic Republic there are other centers of power, including the military and the powerful paramilitary, as well as political figures such as Qalibaf, the foreign minister, Araghchi, and the president.
It is not certain that whoever enters into talks with Washington will have the support of the army or the Revolutionary Guard. In the ongoing war, the Iranian military has carried out attacks following orders from local commanders, rather than those of any political leadership, Araghchi has stated.
The spokesman for Iran’s top military command, Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, vowed Tuesday that the fighting “will continue until complete victory.” It was a message of defiance to Trump’s claim that Iran was suing for peace, but possibly also a warning to any member of the Iranian leadership not to give in to negotiations.
Last night, in a statement collected by the Tasnim agency, linked to the Revolutionary Guard, the spokesman for the Unified Operations Command Khatam al-Anbiya insisted that the White House statements about negotiations with the Islamic Republic are false. “Do not call your defeat an agreement. The era of your promises is over,” the note reads.
The Iranian Army also warned this morning that it will not return to what it was until the Iranian Armed Forces “guarantee the stability of the region.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian with his Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace in Tehran on June 15, 2025.
Buying time?
Trump’s sudden statement about progress in negotiations on Monday came just as the deadline was about to expire for the ultimatum he had issued over the weekend, in which he threatened to “razed” Iran’s power plants if the country did not release its control of Hormuz. Iran threatened to retaliate against energy, water and oil infrastructure across the Gulf.
On Monday, Trump pushed back the deadline by five days and said there is a “very good chance” a deal will be reached this week. This came as a relief to the world oil and stock markets.
Trump’s decision could indicate that he is concerned about the potential long-term damage the war could cause to the U.S. and global economy, although his administration has insisted that any damage from rising oil prices will be quickly reversed once the war ends.
“Trump could be actively looking for a way out,” the New York-based think tank wrote in an analysis. The tycoon could be buying time for thousands of marines heading to the region to arrive.
“Trump could be actively looking for a way out”
The deployment of marines could be a tactic to pressure Iran in negotiations. However, it has also raised speculation about the possibility that the US may try, in the Persian Gulf, vital for the Iranian oil network, or carry out an operation to extract enriched uranium from Iranian territory. Any of these actions would imply further escalation and a longer war.
Trump has stated that he has no plans to, but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested that its ground forces could participate in the war.
And where is Israel?
It should be noted that Israel is not participating in the initiative to enter into negotiations. Israel has presented itself as a supporter of Trump, and appears unlikely to continue its attacks on Iran if the United States declares an end to the war. However, it has pursued its own war objectives, beyond those of the Americans. Last week’s bombing of the , on the high seas, led to an intensification of Iranian attacks against Arab Gulf states, and Trump urged Israel to stop them.
In a statement issued late Monday, Netanyahu acknowledged Trump’s diplomatic efforts but said that for the time being, Israel would continue attacking its enemies.
Furthermore, the end of the war against Iran does not mean the end of the Israeli bombing campaign in Lebanon. There, Israel has seized a new opportunity after militants launched rockets in support of Iran.
