CNN: US President Donald Trump told CNN there are 15 points of agreement between the US and Iran after talks this weekend. He announced he will hold off strikes against Iranian energy sites for five days, after earlier threatening an attack if Tehran did not let the Strait of Hormuz fully reopen. Oil prices dropped following Trump’s statement.
• Iran responds: Iran’s foreign ministry said there was “no dialogue” between Tehran and Washington, according to state affiliated media. Separately, the semi-official Fars News Agency, citing what it described as informed Iranian sources, said plans are being prepared for potential actions targeting Tel Aviv and some regional allies of the US and Israel…
Trump Began Iran Talks as Allies Warned War Risked Disaster
Donald Trump’s decision to back down from his threat to destroy Iran’s power infrastructure came after US allies and Gulf countries privately warned the president of the dangers of following through with his threat, according to people familiar with the matter…
Trump’s Ultimatum to Iran Was Almost Up. Then He Found an Offramp.
Iranian officials publicly denied that any negotiations about terms to end the war were underway, and American officials said the contacts were in a very early stage and not substantive.
But Mr. Trump used the opening of even an early dialogue as an offramp from the threat he issued Saturday to attack Iran’s power plants in retribution for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had vowed not to capitulate, and the 48-hour deadline Mr. Trump had set would have expired on Monday…
Donald Trump plays up prospect of diplomatic end to Iran war
The US president’s apparent shift after nearly a month of hostilities came as the White House faces growing pressure to find a way out of the conflict due to surging oil prices and lacklustre support from the American public…
The Back-Channel Diplomacy Behind Trump’s U-Turn on Iran
Egyptian intelligence officials managed to open a channel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—the paramilitary group that protects the Iranian regime and is the country’s most powerful security and political entity—and put forward a proposal to halt hostilities for five days to build confidence for a cease-fire, some of the officials said.
Those discussions laid the groundwork for an abrupt reversal more than 7,000 miles away in Florida…
‘We’re in the testing phase’: Trump admin eyeing Iran’s parliament speaker as US-backed leader
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the 64-year-old who has repeatedly threatened the U.S. and its allies with retaliation, is seen by at least some in the White House as a workable partner, who could lead Iran and negotiate with the Trump administration in the war’s next phase, according to two administration officials.
But the White House isn’t ready to commit to any one person, hoping to stress test multiple candidates as they look for someone willing to make a deal, said the two people, both granted anonymity to describe internal thinking…
Can Donald Trump do a deal with Iran?
Trump, if he is serious about a deal, may have opened a small window for diplomacy. But Tehran is deeply distrustful of a president who has twice launched attacks against Iran while negotiations were supposed to be ongoing and has insisted on the regime’s total surrender…
Trump’s Iran playbook was written in the 1980s
From oil threats to ultimatums, the US president has a decades-old view of how to confront Tehran…
Iran’s Top Diplomat Is the Face of a Defiant Regime
Abbas Araghchi, 63 years old, has long been known in Western diplomatic circles as the lead negotiator, resisting pressure to accept strict limitations on Iran’s nuclear program. Now, with much of Iran’s leadership in hiding or dead, he is the most prominent voice of a government refusing to be cowed by the U.S. and Israeli military campaign…
Pentagon Officials Weigh Deployment of Airborne Troops for Iran War
The officials described the military’s actions as prudent planning, noting that nothing had been ordered by the Pentagon or U.S. Central Command, which declined to comment. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing planning.
The combat forces would come from the 82nd Airborne’s “Immediate Response Force,” a brigade of about 3,000 soldiers capable of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours. These forces could be used to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub…
Trump Delays Energy Strikes, but Iran’s Infrastructure Is Already Battered
President Trump’s order to postpone strikes on Iran’s power plants gives the country a small reprieve, but U.S. and Israeli strikes have already battered critical infrastructure and stoked popular outrage over the war, even among Iranians who oppose their government.
Mr. Trump and Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, have at times urged Iranians to rise up against their government, but the U.S.-Israeli attacks are angering Iranians already struggling with the conflict’s devastating cost…
Stocks Bounce as Trump Backs Off Iran Infrastructure Threat
For some investors, this will be further evidence of the power of markets over this administration. While Mr. Trump may try to portray himself as unrestrained, the sharp rise in oil prices and interest rates in recent weeks is being seen by some market watchers as pushing the president to try to ease investors’ worries.
However, for other investors, Tehran’s pushback will also serve as a sign that the war in Iran — unlike Venezuela, for example — is not entirely under Mr. Trump’s control. That’s particularly important when it comes to the price of oil, worries about inflation, and the potential for that to push up interest rates in the United States…
Europe Is Quietly Playing a Crucial Role in the Iran War
While many European leaders have publicly decried the U.S. attacks on Iran, behind the scenes their military bases are facilitating one of the most logistically complex operations the U.S. military has been involved in for decades.
In recent weeks, U.S. bombers, drones and ships have been fueled, armed and launched via bases in the U.K., Germany, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece, officials say…
Gulf States Edge Toward Joining Fight Against Iran
U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf are inching toward joining the fight against Iran, getting tougher following persistent attacks that have disrupted their economies and risk giving Tehran long-term leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
The recent steps support America’s ability to carry out airstrikes and open up a new line of attack on Tehran’s finances. They don’t yet go as far as deploying their militaries openly in the fight, a line the Gulf’s rulers have hoped not to cross, though pressure is building as Iran threatens to exert greater sway over the energy-rich region…
More:
How the Iran Conflict Is Widening, in Maps
Pakistan steps up as go-between in Trump’s Iran crisis
At least one winner emerges from Iran war: U.S. natural gas exporters
US-Iran war damaged global oil markets more than Russia-Ukraine war, Chevron CEO says
Ending Iran war now would cede Hormuz to the enemy, Trump’s former Defense secretary says