Senior officials from Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan acted as intermediaries in communication between Washington and Tehran over the past two days, according to sources cited by Axios reporter Barak Ravid on X. The exchanges involved separate discussions between each country's senior officials, a White House envoy and Iranian leadership.
Sources said the delegations met individually with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Those conversations are said to be ongoing and to have made progress, with the stated aim of ending the war and resolving outstanding issues.
President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had instructed the military to postpone planned strikes targeting Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure. The president attributed the decision to what he described as productive communications with Tehran. Following the announcement, main U.S. indexes were on track to open higher.
Not all accounts aligned. Iran's Fars News Agency published a report citing a source who said there had been no direct contact with the United States, nor contact via intermediaries. That statement stands in contrast to the account that multiple countries were relaying messages between the two capitals.
The sources cited in the reports described mediation efforts as continuing and progressing, focusing on ending the conflict and resolving all remaining open issues. Details about the content of the discrete talks, the specific officials involved from Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan beyond their collective role, or any formal agreements were not provided in the accounts cited.
What is clear from the available reporting is a sequence of events in which third-party diplomatic channels were reported to have been active, followed by a U.S. decision to delay kinetic action against Iranian energy targets and a public denial from an Iranian news agency about direct communication. The contrasting statements underscore an uncertain and fluid diplomatic environment.
Summary
- Three regional governments reportedly conveyed messages between the United States and Iran over two days.
- White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were identified as participants in the separate talks.
- President Trump said he postponed strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure after productive conversations, while Iran's Fars News Agency denied any direct communications.