‘Significant’ progress made in indirect US-Iran talks on resuming truce, official says

Mediators have achieved progress in getting the United States and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials say, after both sides paused attacks following a period of rapidly escalating tensions.

Neither the US nor Iran has reported carrying out any attacks for three days — a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had led to increasing fears of a return to all-out war.

The two regional officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, say mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan are working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to an interim ceasefire deal that collapsed after the exchanges of fire.

One of the regional officials describes the progress made in mediation efforts as “significant.” He says mediators are working with Iran and Oman on a mechanism for managing vessels’ transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the flashpoint for the latest strikes and counterstrikes.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said during a news conference in Tehran earlier that “mediators may convey messages to us from the American side” but that there are no direct negotiations.