Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sits for a meeting. AFP
According to two sources cited by Axios, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reached out to US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff in what appeared to be an effort to de-escalate or delay any potential US action against Tehran. The outreach marks the first public indication that direct communication channels between Washington and Tehran remain open despite stalled nuclear talks and rising rhetoric.
The sources said Araghchi and Witkoff discussed the possibility of meeting in the coming days, though it was unclear whether the exchange took place by phone or text message.
Trump said on Sunday that Iran’s leadership had contacted him seeking negotiations after he issued repeated threats of military intervention. “They want to negotiate,” Trump said, adding that “a meeting is being set up.”
Axios reported that Witkoff and Araghchi first established contact during nuclear talks last year and continued communicating even after US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during the 12-day war in June. The two were still exchanging messages as recently as October over possible renewed negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed on Monday that the communication channel remains open, saying messages are exchanged “whenever necessary.” He added that Iran and the United States also communicate through Swiss mediation but described US messages as “contradictory.”
Trump is expected to meet his national security team on Tuesday to discuss options related to Iran, including support for protests and measures to weaken the government, according to Axios.
“We are looking at it very seriously,” Trump said on Sunday. “The military is looking at it. We are looking at very strong options. We will make a determination.”
On Friday, Trump warned that Washington would intervene militarily if Iranian authorities used lethal force against protesters, saying any response would not involve ground troops but would include strikes.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts,” he told reporters at the White House.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf responded by warning that US forces and Israel would become “legitimate targets” if Washington carried out an attack.
“You’d better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting too,” Qalibaf said.
“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory (Israel) and all American military centres, bases, and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” he added. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday accused Washington of attempting to exploit the protests and said authorities would not tolerate what he described as foreign-backed “saboteurs,” according to state media.
“Trump should know that world tyrants such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Shah, and Mohammad Reza were brought down at the peak of their arrogance. He, too, will be brought down,” Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television. He also accused protesters of acting on behalf of foreign powers and described them as “mercenaries for foreigners.”
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