Trump claims contact with Iran’s ‘top, respected leader’, signals ongoing talks

Washington: President Donald Trump on Monday refused to name the Iranian leader the US is in talks with to end the three-week-old war, asserting that the interlocutor was a “top person” who is “most respected” in that country.

Speaking to reporters at the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, Trump made it clear that the US was not in talks with the “second” Supreme Leader, a reference to Ayatollah Khamanei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei.

“A top person … We are dealing with a man who I believe is the most respected and the leader,” Trump said as he headed for Memphis after spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

“We have not heard from the son,” he said, referring to Mojtaba Khamenei. “Every once in a while you will see a statement made (from Khamenei) but we don’t know if he’s living,” Trump said, adding that the US military has wiped out the Iranian leadership.

According to reports, Iran has denied being in talks with the US, but admitted that some countries in the region were making efforts to reduce tensions.

Axios news website quoted a US source as saying that Turkiye, Egypt, and Pakistan have been passing messages between the US and Iran over the past two days.

The foreign ministers of the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the US source told Axios.

The president said Steve Witkoff, the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, and Jared Kushner spoke with their Iranian counterparts on Sunday.

However, Trump declined to say to whom Witkoff was speaking, saying he did not want them to be killed.

“Nobody wants that job right now. Nobody’s exactly looking forward to being the head of that particular country, but perhaps we’ll be able to solve that problem,” he said.

Starting February 28, the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The joint strikes came after days of build-up with US President Donald Trump ramping up the pressure on Tehran to agree to a new deal on its nuclear programme.

Iran’s retaliation escalated the war to the entire Gulf region.Turkey’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday on whether the country had relayed messages between Iran and the U.S. Agencies