US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) speaks to the press following a G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting with Partner Countries before his departure at the Bourget airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris. AFP
Rubio claimed there were internal "fractures" inside the Islamic republic and that the United States hoped that figures with "power to deliver" take charge.
"We are hopeful that that's the case," Rubio told ABC News program "Good Morning America."
"There are clearly people there talking to us in ways that previous people in charge in Iran have not spoken to us in the past, some of the things they're willing to do," he said.
Tehran has refused to admit to holding official talks with Washington but has passed a response to Trump's 15-point plan to end the war via Islamabad, according to an anonymous source cited by the Iranian Tasnim news agency.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Friday he expected a direct US-Iran meeting in Pakistan "very soon", without revealing his source.
The current war began after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran on February 28, killing its supreme leader, and sparking Iranian retaliation against US assets and Gulf countries in the region.
Iran has also responded to US-Israeli strikes by severely restricting shipping traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices sharply higher and raising the risk of a global energy crisis.
Around 20 percent of the world’s oil supply -- roughly 20 million barrels per day -- normally passes through the strait, making any disruption there especially consequential for global energy markets.
Iran has said "non-hostile vessels" can transit the vital waterway if they meet safety and security regulations in coordination with the relevant authorities. Tankers from Japan, China, India and Pakistan have already been allowed through the Strait.
Talk of private talks between the United States and Israel comes as US President Donald Trump threatened Monday to "obliterate" Iran's oil export hub of Kharg Island, oil wells and power plants if it does not soon agree to a deal to end the war.
A day after sounding conciliatory and suggesting a deal could be reached this week, Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the United States is in "serious discussions" with "a more reasonable regime" in Tehran. But he added an ominous warning.
"Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched,'" Trump said.
Kharg Island, located off Iran’s west coast in the Gulf, is the country’s most critical oil export terminal, handling roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports, making it a highly strategic target in the conflict.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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