Image Credit: Roberto Schmidt / Stringer / Getty 
Peace negotiations between the White House and Iranian government are underway, according to President Donald Trump. Fox & Friends reported Wednesday that “Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey are reportedly leading the push for peace as Gulf countries face a continued tide of Iranian attacks.”
On Tuesday Trump said that Tehran is going to make a deal to end the war.
“They are going to make a deal, they are going to make a deal,” Trump said. “They gave us a present, and the present arrived today, and it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. And I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize, and they gave it to us.”
Islamabad may host Washington and Tehran in this deal-making process.
“Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the WAR in Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in region and beyond. Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
There is an international effort to facilitate the peace talks. Gulf News reported:
The push comes as multiple countries ramp up outreach. Turkey’s foreign minister has spoken to more than a dozen regional and global counterparts over the past 48 hours, while Ankara is also reported to have floated London as a potential neutral venue for negotiations.
The president of the European Commission said Tuesday it was “time to go to the negotiation table and end the hostilities” in Iran.
India also joined calls for de-escalation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had a “useful exchange of views” with Trump and stressed that India supports “de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest.” He also underlined the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open, secure and accessible.”
While Tehran claimed it was not in talks with Washington on March 16, the Islamic Republic now appears to admit it is negotiating with the U.S.
Backchannel communication is reportedly underway, using Pakistan as a conduit for dialogue:
Tehran has signalled that backchannel communication may already be underway. Iran’s foreign ministry said messages had been received from “some friendly countries indicating a US request for negotiations to end the war.”
Sharif also spoke with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, reiterating Pakistan’s willingness to help broker peace, while Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed he had been in contact with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
Earlier, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi told AFP that the country was “always willing to host talks” and had “consistently advocated for dialogue and diplomacy to promote peace and stability in the region.”
Iran is reportedly not interested in negotiating with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, saying they have already stabbed Iran in the back following the last round of negotiations which ended in war. The Islamic Republic seeks to negotiate with Vice President JD Vance instead.
While Trump is now preparing to negotiate with the government of Iran, he initially believed claims from the Israeli Mossad that Tehran could be toppled, according to The New York Times. That Israeli intelligence helped the Jewish State’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu convince Trump to go to war with it, according to Middle East Eye. The NYT reported Sunday:
As the United States and Israel prepared to go to war with Iran, the head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, went to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a plan.
Within days of the war’s beginning, said David Barnea, the Mossad chief, his service would likely be able to galvanize the Iranian opposition — igniting riots and other acts of rebellion that could even lead to the collapse of Iran’s government. Mr. Barnea also presented the proposal to senior Trump administration officials during a visit to Washington in mid-January.
Mr. Netanyahu adopted the plan. Despite doubts about its viability among senior American officials and some officials in other Israeli intelligence agencies, both he and President Trump seemed to embrace an optimistic outlook. Killing Iran’s leaders at the outset of the conflict, followed by a series of intelligence operations intended to encourage regime change, they thought, could lead to a mass uprising that might bring about a swift end to the war.
Adding credibility to the NYT report, directly after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran, Trump took to social media calling for the Iranians to stage a coup, a Trump-backed insurrection in the capital of Iran.
“When we are finished [dropping bombs] take over your government, it will be yours to take,” Trump said February 28. “This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.”
