What to know about possible talks to wind down the Iran war
Iranian Red Crescent emergency workers use a bulldozer to clear rubble from a residential building that was hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) 2026-03-24T20:22:13Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S.
President Donald Trump’s surprising claim this week that talks with Iran were yielding great progress has only raised more confusion over a war whose goals were already unclear .
The most basic question: What talks?
Iran denied any negotiations were taking place, pledging to fight “until complete victory.” Pakistan, Egypt and Gulf Arab nations are trying behind the scenes to piece together talks , but their efforts still seem preliminary.
Israel is vowing to keep up its attacks.
If anything, the war appears to only be escalating .
Barrages were fired into Iran, Israel and across the Mideast on Tuesday, and thousands more U.S.
Marines were on their way to the Gulf.
Here is a look at what’s known and not known about possible talks to wind down the war.
Push for negotiations Since launching the war alongside Israel on Feb. 28, Trump has given shifting and often vague objectives , and those mixed messages were on display in recent days .
He has talked of degrading or destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, and its ability to threaten neighbors — goals that he has some flexibility in declaring accomplished.
A much tougher goal is ensuring Iran can never build a nuclear weapon , and Trump has insisted that will be part of any deal.
A reopening of the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway for oil shipments that Iran made virtually impassable when the war began – is now also a priority, for Trump and the global economy.
As Trump talks of engaging with leaders in Iran, he has backed off promoting the Islamic Republic’s collapse.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, continues to say the war aims to help Iranians overthrow the theocracy.
Trump claimed that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held talks Sunday with an Iranian leader.
He did not say who that was.
Reports focused on Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf as a possible interlocutor.
But Qalibaf quickly denied talks were taking place in a post on X.
The U.S. agreed “in principle” to join talks in Pakistan, according to three Pakistani officials, one Egyptian official and a Gulf diplomat, while mediators were still working to convince Iran.
The officials all spoke on
原文链接: AP News