President Donald Trump’s try and quietly open a diplomatic backchannel with Iran collapsed this week after Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went off the grid, Axios reported Saturday, citing three U.S. officers and a supply with direct information of the matter.
In response to Axios, Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had labored to rearrange a direct assembly between senior U.S. and Iranian officers in Istanbul amid the rising warfare between Israel and Iran.
The trouble reportedly included Trump providing to ship Vice President J.D. Vance and White Home envoy Steve Witkoff, and providing to attend himself.
However plans unraveled when “Khamenei, who has been in hiding for worry of being assassinated by Israel, couldn’t be reached,” Axios reported.
With out his sign-off, Iranian officers advised the Turks they might not proceed, and the assembly was canceled.
Within the hours that adopted, Trump posted a pointed message on Truth Social
: “Iran ought to have signed the ‘deal’ I advised them to signal. What a disgrace, and waste of human life. Merely said, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I mentioned it again and again! Everybody ought to instantly evacuate Tehran!”
Whereas a senior White Home official advised Axios there was “no direct correlation” between the failed talks and the put up, the official confirmed the message mirrored Trump’s “need to guard Iranian lives.”
Axios reported that the U.S. had acquired “alerts” from Iran previous to the decision with Erdoğan suggesting Tehran was open to talks. Erdoğan relayed the American provide to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and International Minister Abbas Araghchi, however with out Khamenei’s approval, the hassle stalled.
In response to Axios, Trump has grown “much less assured {that a} diplomatic resolution was doable — and extra satisfied the U.S. must be a part of the warfare to remove the Iranian nuclear program.”
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark or separate affirmation.
