President Donald Trump on Monday claimed Iran has been desperately trying to reach out to make a deal with the United States to end the war. Iran's prime minister called this "fake news," but on Tuesday, that changed.
CNN reported that the U.S. initiated contact and Iran is willing to listen to “sustainable” proposals to end the war.
“There has been outreach between the United States and Iran, initiated by Washington, in recent days, but nothing that has reached the level of full-on negotiations,” the source told CNN. “Messages have been received through various intermediaries to scope out whether an agreement to end the war can be reached.”
“The proposals being looked at are aimed not merely at achieving a ceasefire, but a concrete agreement to end the conflict between the U.S. and Iran,” they added.
“Iran is not asking for a meeting or direct talks with the United States but is willing to listen if a plan for a sustainable deal comes within reach that would preserve the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the source said.
“Iran is ready to provide all the necessary guarantees that it will never develop nuclear weapons but is entitled to peaceful use of nuclear technology.”
At least one former Trump strategist said that he believes Trump thought it would be "easy" to get what he wanted out of Iran. That's not what happened, however.
The conditions are similar to those that made up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Trump withdrew from in 2018, including that sanctions must end.
Meanwhile, Iran is mocking Trump in cartoon videos online.
Speaking to CNN about the matter on Tuesday, global affairs analyst Kim Dozier said, "The U.S. just blinked."
She explained that it isn't surprising because Trump spent the weekend walking back some of his threats and tough-guy talk.
"I mean, we already saw it in the series of changing tweets or 'truths' from President Trump," said Dozier. "You know, one day he's like, the war is about to end. The next day, we're going to obliterate your energy facilities. And then the next day, we think there are talks from the perspective of the Iranians. This means the U.S. has capitulated, and I think they're going to have a hard time getting much more at the negotiating table than they had before this whole war was launched."