ANKARA — The United States has proposed holding talks between Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a regional source confirmed to Al-Monitor, in a potential shift in efforts to open a diplomatic channel with Tehran as the war approaches one month.
Both the proposal for the talks and the potential negotiations would happen through intermediaries that include Turkey, the source said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday discussed efforts to end the war with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, a Turkish diplomatic source said. The conversations came after Fidan’s talks on Sunday with US officials and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.
Separately, mediators are working to convene a meeting in Islamabad between senior US and Iranian officials as early as this week, with Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt facilitating the effort, Axios reported earlier Monday.
Iran has yet to respond to the proposal, the source said. The proposal was first reported by Iran Nuances. It comes as US President Donald Trump announced Monday that he was pausing strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days, citing “productive” talks.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
