Iran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press the President of the United States, Donald Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire with Tehran in return for Iranian flexibility in nuclear negotiations, two Iranian and three regional sources told Reuters on Monday.
Gulf leaders and their top diplomats worked the phones all weekend, speaking to each other, to Tehran, Washington and beyond in an effort to prevent a widening of the biggest ever confrontation between longstanding enemies Israel and Iran.
Israeli forces stepped up their bombardment of Iranian cities, while Iran proved capable of piercing Israeli air defences with one of its most successful volleys yet of retaliatory missile strikes.
“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”
Also, Netanyahu told Israeli troops at an air base that Israel was on its way to achieving its two main aims: wiping out Iran’s nuclear programme and destroying its missiles.
“We are on the path to victory,” he said. “We are telling the citizens of Tehran: ‘Evacuate’ — and we are taking action.”
Israel launched its air war on Friday with a surprise attack that killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran’s military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It has said it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate its campaign in coming days.
Tehran’s retaliation is the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that missiles fired from Iran have pierced Israeli defences in significant numbers and killed Israelis in their homes.
Meanwhile, following reports that Iran has been sending urgent messages to Washington and Jerusalem through Arab intermediaries expressing desire to end the conflict with Israel and resume nuclear talks with the United States, US President Donald Trump said Monday that Tehran is seeking to discuss de-escalation and should do so “before it’s too late.”
“I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a G7 summit in Canada.
Tehran is reportedly seeking a ceasefire as a condition for reengaging in diplomacy, while Gulf states urge Washington to help de-escalate the crisis.
