(US) Reportedly US-Iran diplomacy is not entirely frozen; Trump's envoys Kushner and Witkoff are still exchanging drafts with Iran's foreign minister Araghchi - Axios
Monday, May 4, 2026 6:53:41 AMEST
- "There are talks. There are offers. We don't like theirs. They don't like ours. We still don't know the status of the [supreme leader]. And they're carrying messages by hand to caves or wherever he or whoever is hiding. It slows the process down," one senior U.S. official said.
- Witkoff has been advising Trump to continue the negotiations and presenting an optimistic assessment about the odds of a deal, but other senior officials are far more pessimistic, several U.S. officials said.
- A source close to Trump described "Project Freedom" as the "beginning of a process that could lead to a confrontation with the Iranians." A U.S. official with knowledge of that plan said the U.S. would have taken out any missiles or fast boats the Iranians launched in response, and resumed the war with full force if Iran escalated by attacking Gulf countries.
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- Witkoff has been advising Trump to continue the negotiations and presenting an optimistic assessment about the odds of a deal, but other senior officials are far more pessimistic, several U.S. officials said.
- A source close to Trump described "Project Freedom" as the "beginning of a process that could lead to a confrontation with the Iranians." A U.S. official with knowledge of that plan said the U.S. would have taken out any missiles or fast boats the Iranians launched in response, and resumed the war with full force if Iran escalated by attacking Gulf countries.