How the US may be negotiating with Iran

Early on the morning of March 23, right before financial markets began trading, US President Donald Trump posted a surprising announcement on the social network Truth Social. He said the US and Iran over the past two days have had “very good and effective” exchanges to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

To facilitate the negotiation process, President Trump decided to postpone all military attacks on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for a period of 5 days, adding that “extensive, detailed and constructive” exchanges with Iran will continue this week.

However, the Iranian side immediately denied, affirming that they had any official negotiations with the US. That contrast raises many speculations about how this diplomatic effort took place and who is the negotiating representative of each side, because both the US, Israel and Iran have vowed to fight to the end in the current conflict.

Reporters sought to clarify this issue when talking with Mr. Trump at the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the US President was preparing to board a special plane to return to Washington after the weekend.

President Trump said the US negotiating representatives are special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. They spoke with “a senior Iranian leader” and reached many points of agreement, “on almost all issues”.

When the reporter continued asking if Iran’s “senior leader” was the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Mr. Trump denied. In Iran, the Supreme Leader is the person with the highest power in the political and military apparatus, playing a decisive role in the country’s foreign, military and nuclear policies.

“Don’t forget that we killed their leadership in phase one, phase two and most of phase three. But we are working with someone who I believe is the most respected and leader,” Mr. Trump revealed.

According to observers, people with “senior leadership” roles in Iran who have survived a series of US and Israeli airstrikes in the past three weeks include President Masoud Pezeshkian, National Assembly Chairman Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. These may be the faces representing Iran in discussions with special envoys Witkoff and Kushner.

It is unclear whether Israel will participate in the negotiations or be bound by any agreement. Mr. Trump said Israel “will be very happy with what we have,” adding that Washington has just discussed negotiations with its Tel Aviv counterpart.

Well-informed Iranian officials said Tehran and Washington have exchanged messages through intermediaries about de-escalating tensions, but the level of discussion cannot yet be considered negotiations. The main content is to avoid attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure, which could cause a humanitarian disaster for the entire Gulf region.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that on March 22, Mr. Witkoff spoke directly with Foreign Minister Araghchi by phone. However, the call was described as “initial contact” in which Mr. Araghchi said that Iran was not interested in a temporary ceasefire, but wanted a sustainable peace agreement and wanted the United States to lift some economic sanctions, according to Iranian officials.

Meanwhile, Axios Citing sources, Egypt, Qatar and Britain are acting as intermediaries to convey messages between the two sides. Egypt and Qatar informed the US and Israel that Iran is ready to negotiate, but with very tough conditions. Tehran wants Washington and Tel Aviv to end their hostile actions, commit not to attack Iran in the future, and compensate the country.

A US official said Washington wants Tehran to make six commitments including: Not developing a missile program for five years; no uranium enrichment; dismantle the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear facilities bombed by the US and Israel in 2025. In addition, a strict international monitoring mechanism for the manufacture and use of centrifuges and related equipment that can be used to develop Iran’s nuclear program will be established.

The two sides will sign arms control agreements with regional countries, which limit the number of missiles to no more than 1,000. Iran pledges not to sponsor proxy forces such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi in Yemen or Hamas in Gaza.

The second official said there was still the possibility of negotiations on the return of Iranian assets blocked by the West.

“They call it compensation, but we can call it returning frozen money. There are many different expressions to both address their political demands and help them create internal consensus,” this official said. “But that’s just a story about words. First of all, we have to make big enough progress to be able to talk about choosing such an expression.”

Meanwhile, Iranian officials sent mixed messages to the US about the news that Tehran is negotiating with Washington to end the current conflict.

A few hours after the announcement from President Trump, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that the country is not negotiating with the US amid the conflict. However, he added that in recent days, Iran has received messages from the US requesting negotiations to end the hostilities.

Mr. Baghaei did not rule out the possibility of holding negotiations, saying Iran’s stance on the Strait of Hormuz and the conditions for ending the war remain unchanged. Iranian National Assembly Chairman Ghalibaf also denied information that he negotiated with US officials.

“The Iranian people want the aggressors to be punished appropriately and pay the price,” Mr. Ghalibaf wrote on X. “There are no negotiations with the US. Fake news is being used to manipulate the financial and oil markets, as well as help the US and Israel escape the deadlock.”

Meanwhile, an anonymous senior official at Iran’s Foreign Ministry told US station CBS News that “we have received negotiation proposals from the US side through intermediaries and are considering them”.

Ali Vaez, senior analyst on Iran at the International Crisis Group (ICG), said Iran would not participate in a high-level meeting if it was not certain that the US had abandoned its “maximizing” demands.

“Not attacking energy infrastructure is just a very low threshold,” he said. “The terms of a ceasefire, or an agreement to resolve long-term issues, including the fate of uranium stockpiles or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, are still far from being finalised.”

Meanwhile, Arab countries in the Gulf have expressed their unwillingness to act as intermediaries as long as Iran continues to attack their territory. However, a number of other countries, including Pakistan, Türkiye and Egypt, have offered to help reconcile the US and Israel with Iran.

Türkiye and Pakistan have floated the idea of ​​direct meetings between US and Iranian officials. One proposal calls for a meeting between Mr. Araghchi, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner, while another option is for US Vice President JD Vance to meet Iranian National Assembly Chairman Ghalibaf.

A Pakistani official said Mr. Vance, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner were expected to meet with the Iranian delegation in Islamabad this week, following a call between President Trump and Pakistan army chief Asim Munir. The White House confirmed the call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Munir, but did not comment on the possibility of Mr. Vance going to Pakistan.

“These are very sensitive diplomatic exchanges, and the United States will not negotiate through the press,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “The situation is constantly changing, so any rumors about meetings cannot be considered certain until the White House officially confirms.”