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The Trump administration has reportedly begun talking internally about resuming negotiations with Iran.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner are involved in discussions to lay the groundwork for re-starting diplomacy, sources told Axios Saturday.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the UK have been passing messages between the United States and Iran, the outlet reported.
Tehran is also considering coming to the table, but with terms that include a ceasefire, guarantees the war will not restart and compensation, according to the report.
There could be room to negotiate over returning frozen assets to Iran, a US official told Axios.
“They call it reparations. Maybe we call it return of frozen money,” the official said. “There’s many different ways that we can wordsmith so that it solves politically what they need to solve.”
The news comes one day after President Trump said he was considering “winding down” the war, as the war entered its fourth week Saturday.
“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the terrorist regime of Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social Friday.
Both sides were in the middle of talks around Iran’s nuclear program when the US and Israel suddenly launched devastating strikes on Feb. 28 that took out Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 of Tehran’s top military commanders.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that fully reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz would require a ceasefire and a guarantee not to strike Iran in the future.
US officials expect at least another two weeks of war, as they prepare for possible talks.
Part of the challenge in resuming talks is also the mystery around whether new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is really the one in charge, and what conditions his condsi in after being injured in the strike that killed his father.
English (US)