Washington and Tehran send conflicting signals as war enters fourth week
Contradictory signals from Washington and Tehran dominated Monday's diplomatic landscape, as US President Donald Trump claimed "major points of agreement" had been reached in talks with Iranian officials, walked back his threat to strike Iranian power plants, and ordered a five-day pause in any such action — while Iran's Foreign Ministry flatly denied any direct contact had taken place.
In an all-caps post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that the US and Iran had held "very good and productive" conversations over the past two days focused on ending hostilities, announcing he had instructed the Department of War to postpone all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, "subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions." The announcement triggered a surge in US stock futures and a fall in oil prices, which had wobbled earlier in the day amid fears of dramatic escalation.
Trump told reporters that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had conducted the talks on Sunday night, with discussions to continue by phone on Monday ahead of a possible in-person meeting. He listed a series of claimed Iranian commitments — none confirmed by Tehran — including a pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons, to hand over existing uranium stockpiles, to reduce missile activity, and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. "If they carry through with that it will end the conflict," Trump said, adding that Israel had been notified and would be "very happy" with the outcome.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei pushed back directly, stating that while friendly nations had relayed US requests for dialogue, Tehran had not responded. A source citing state-affiliated Fars News Agency went further, claiming there had been "no direct contact with Trump, not even through intermediaries," and that Trump was seeking to calm energy markets. Trump attributed the Iranian denial to internal miscommunication within the regime.
Behind the denials, however, a more complex picture is emerging. Both an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to Axios that Trump's team — Witkoff and Kushner — had been in indirect contact with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, identified as the most senior civilian in Iran's current decision-making circle. Crucially, the same source cautioned that no direct talks between Ghalibaf and Trump's envoys had yet taken place; rather, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey passed messages between the two sides on Sunday and were working to set up a direct call on Monday, which could in turn determine whether an in-person meeting proceeds.
Ghalibaf himself denied that any "negotiations" had taken place, calling US claims an attempt to manipulate markets and help Washington "escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped." Trump, for his part, declined to name his Iranian interlocutor, saying he did not want to get him killed, but described him as "the most respected" figure he was aware of — someone distinct from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, from whom the US has not heard.
Ghalibaf's profile makes his potential involvement significant. A former IRGC general and former mayor of Tehran, he is a close associate of the new Supreme Leader and played a central role in managing Iran's war effort during the 12-day conflict last June. It was Ghalibaf who responded to Trump's earlier threat to bomb Iranian power plants with a counter-threat to strike energy facilities across the region.
Pakistan is emerging as the leading candidate to host formal talks, with mediating countries working to convene a meeting in Islamabad — potentially involving Ghalibaf on the Iranian side and Witkoff, Kushner and possibly Vice President JD Vance on the American side — possibly later this week. Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir spoke with Trump by telephone on Sunday. A US source confirmed that Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan have all been actively shuttling messages, with the foreign ministers of all three countries holding separate conversations with both Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — who had previously served as Washington's primary interlocutor, though some US officials questioned whether he carried sufficient authority to deliver a deal. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty additionally convened a joint call with counterparts from Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar on Sunday, stressing the need to contain the conflict's regional spread.
Vance spoke by phone on Monday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussing both the diplomatic efforts and the possible components of a ceasefire agreement. An Israeli official told Axios that while Israel had been aware of indirect US-Iran communications, it was caught off-guard by the speed of developments: "We did not know things were moving that fast."
On the ground, the conflict showed no sign of abating. The IDF struck an IRGC Quds Force member in Beirut on Monday afternoon and conducted two separate rounds of airstrikes in Tehran earlier in the day. Hezbollah launched a fresh rocket wave from Lebanon, seriously wounding a man after shrapnel struck a bus in Kiryat Shmona. A 60-year-old woman was found dead in Ashkelon after apparently falling while running for shelter during a rocket siren.
The war has had cascading regional consequences. Gulf carriers including Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia have seen flight numbers drop sharply since the initial US-Israeli strikes on February 28, with only a partial recovery underway. The European Union's gas coordination group announced an emergency meeting for Thursday to assess the conflict's impact on European energy supplies. Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam endorsed Hezbollah's disarmament and called for the expulsion of Iranian operatives from the country, blaming the group for dragging Lebanon into the wider war.
Since Operations "Roaring Lion" and "Epic Fury" began on February 28, two IDF soldiers and 19 civilians have been killed in Israel, with over 4,600 more injured. Eleven US soldiers have also been killed.