The administration of US President Donald Trump has rejected efforts by Middle East allies to begin diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war that began two weeks ago with a massive US-Israeli air attack, according to three sources familiar with the efforts.Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters that Iran rejected the possibility of halting any ceasefire until the US and Israeli strikes ended, adding that several countries had tried to mediate an end to the conflict.
Iran issues tough ‘peace demands’ to Trump and Netanyahu; “Accept our terms or the fighting will continue…”
The lack of interest from Washington and Tehran suggests that both sides are eyeing a long-term conflict, even as the war’s widening reach has caused civilian casualties and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices soaring.
The war resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 people, most of them in Iran, and caused the largest interruption of oil supplies ever with the halt of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export center, on Friday evening confirmed Trump’s determination to move forward with his military attack. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and threatened to escalate attacks on neighboring countries.
Oman, which mediated the talks before the war, tried several times to open a line of communication, but the White House made clear it was not interested, according to two sources who, like others in this story, were granted anonymity in order to speak freely about diplomatic matters. A senior White House official confirmed that Trump rejected those efforts to start talks and focused on moving forward with the war to further weaken Tehran’s military capabilities.The official said: “He is not interested in that at the moment, and we will continue the mission relentlessly. Maybe one day will come, but not now.”During the first week of the war, Trump wrote on his “Social Truth” platform that the Iranian leadership and military were so hard hit by US-Israeli strikes that they wanted to talk, but “it was too late!” He has a history of changing foreign policy positions without warning, making it difficult to rule out that he might test the waters in order to resume diplomacy.“President Trump has said that the potential new leadership in Iran has indicated that it wants to talk and will eventually talk,” another senior White House official said when asked to comment on this story. “For now, the epic fury continues unabated.”The Iranian sources said that Tehran rejected efforts by several countries to negotiate a ceasefire until the United States and Israel end their air strikes and meet Iran’s demands, which included a permanent halt to US and Israeli attacks and compensation as part of the ceasefire.Egypt, which was mediating before the war, also tried to reopen communications, according to three security and diplomatic sources. Although the efforts did not appear to make progress, they did ensure some military restraint from neighboring countries struck by Iran, according to one of the sources.The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the Omani government, and the Iranian government did not respond to requests for comment.The impact of the war on global oil markets greatly increased the cost to the United States. Some US officials and Trump’s advisors urged a quick end to the war, warning that rising gasoline prices could pay the president’s Republican Party a heavy political price, with the midterm elections approaching in the United States.Others pressured Trump to continue the attack on the Islamic Republic to destroy its missile program and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to what Reuters reported.Trump’s rejection of diplomatic efforts may indicate that the administration has no plans for a quick end to the war at this time. In fact, both the United States and Iran appeared less willing to participate than during the early days of the war, when senior American officials reached out to Oman to discuss de-escalation, according to several sources.One source said that Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also sought to use Oman as a channel for ceasefire talks in which US Vice President J.D. Vance was to participate.
But those discussions did not materialize.A third high-ranking Iranian source said that Iran’s position has become more stringent.The source said, “What was previously conveyed through diplomatic channels is no longer important now.”“The Revolutionary Guard strongly believes that if it loses control of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will lose the war,” the source added, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a private paramilitary force that controls large parts of the economy.He added, “Therefore, the Revolutionary Guards will not accept any ceasefire, ceasefire talks, or diplomatic efforts, and Iranian political leaders will not participate in such talks, despite the attempts of several countries.”