According to media reports: How to achieve ceasefire ... The White House's negotiating counterpart is Iran's Parliament Speaker

U.S. President Trump said on Monday, March 23, that the U.S. and Iran had held talks within the past 24 hours, reaching "substantial consensus" on 15 key points, and added that a deal to end the war could soon be reached.

Although Trump refused to disclose the specific negotiating counterpart, Israeli media reported that the White House's negotiator was Iran's hardline Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Trump noted that his Middle East envoy, David M. Friedman, along with senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, had spoken with Iranian officials on Sunday, the 22nd, and that related discussions continued via phone calls on Monday.

"We've had very, very strong conversations. We'll monitor what happens next. I can say we’ve reached several major agreements—almost comprehensive agreement."

Trump said. He revealed that the consensus involved 15 points, including Iran’s pledge not to possess nuclear weapons.

Speaking before departing Florida for Memphis, he told reporters: "I can only say that we are in a position where a deal is highly likely."

Trump declined to reveal the specific individuals involved in the talks but clearly stated it was not Iran’s Supreme Leader, Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei. Trump emphasized that Iran still has other leaders in place. He stated: "We are negotiating with someone I consider the most respected and capable leader." Trump also added that Iran might see a new negotiating counterpart emerge, similar to Venezuela, and did not rule out the possibility of collective leadership.

Regarding the consequences if negotiations fail, Trump bluntly stated that the U.S. would "continue bombing."

However, according to Fars News Agency citing sources, there has been no direct or indirect communication between the U.S. and Iran.

According to The Times of Israel quoting local Hebrew media reports, the White House’s negotiating counterpart is indeed Speaker Ghalibaf.

Ghalibaf has close ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and was a close friend of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.

Earlier on Monday, Trump withdrew his threat to attack Iran’s power facilities, stating that any strikes on power plants and energy infrastructure would be delayed.

Previously, Trump issued an ultimatum: If Tehran failed to "fully open" the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, its power plants would be destroyed. The deadline set by Trump was approximately 7:44 p.m. EDT on Monday (7:44 a.m. Beijing time on Tuesday).

Before Trump’s statement on Monday, Iran had threatened to retaliate by attacking Israel’s power plants and all U.S. military base power facilities in the Persian Gulf region if the U.S. attacked Iran’s power grid.

Source: rfi

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1860470512221184/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author