Dubai: Turkiye is attempting to bring US and Iranian officials to the negotiating table in hopes of easing the threat of US military action against Iran, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Neither the US nor Iran has confirmed whether they plan to take part in any negotiations. Two Turkish officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said Turkiye is trying to organise a meeting between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian leaders. The meeting could take place as soon as the end of the week, one of the officials said.
The US military has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Middle East, but it remains unclear whether US President Donald Trump would decide to use force against the Iranian government, as he has suggested he might do in retribution for their devastating crackdown on last month's protests and as he presses for a deal on Iran's nuclear program.
An Arab diplomat, who told AP on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not been confirmed, said there had been discussions about Turkiye hosting a high-level meeting to bring Arab and Muslim countries together with the United States and Iran.
"We have talks going on with Iran, we'll see how it all works out," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Asked what his threshold was for military action against Iran, he declined to elaborate.
"I'd like to see a deal negotiated," Trump said. "Right now, we're talking to them, we're talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that'd be great. And if we can't, probably bad things would happen."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked by reporters during a trip to Florida if "regime change" was possible in Iran.
He said, "Not right now."