File image.
President Donald Trump said on July 27 the United States has been having “very friendly” talks with Iran, despite recent escalation.
“You can’t bribe them. You’ve got to beat them, and we’ll beat the hell out of them. But we’ll see how it turns out,” he said at a rally in Michigan. “Right now, there are very friendly negotiations going on.”
The remarks came on the third day of calm in the Middle East after 13 days of intense U.S. strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks across the region. Trump ordered the military to halt strikes on July 24 to give diplomacy a chance. Tehran, for its part, also held fire, saying on July 26 that it would continue to do so for as long as Washington did.
Earlier in the day, a Trump administration official told Israel’s Kan public broadcaster that indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are at a “serious stage.” The official reportedly said both sides have passed proposals, in a sign of progress, but there are no agreements yet.
The Associated Press also reported citing regional officials that mediators have achieved progress in getting the U.S. and Iran back to negotiations.
Two regional officials told the news agency mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan are working to bridge the gap between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic to return to the memorandum of understanding that collapsed after the recent exchanges of fire.
One of the officials describes the progress made in mediation efforts as “significant.” He said 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 in the day that “mediators may convey messages to us from the American side” but that there are no direct negotiations.
While the reports of progress may be real, a return to fighting remains more than likely. The U.S. and Iran are still far apart on the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear issue.
In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Trump soon, and according to recent reports, he will be pushing for another round of fighting. He previously succeeded in convincing the U.S. president of attacking the Islamic Republic.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com