Iranian FM secretly informed Witkoff of supreme leader’s agreement to negotiate with US

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has secretly informed US envoy Steve Witkoff that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei approved talks to reach a potential deal, Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday, citing Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

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Sources told the newspaper that the supreme leader, who was appointed after his father Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening strike of the US-Isael war on Iran last month, agreed to end the war quickly in accordance with Iran’s conditions.

After giving Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced on Monday that he had ordered a five-day delay of any military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.

He said the talks -- which Iran denies are taking place -- were being conducted with a “top person” but not the country’s supreme leader.

Later, Trump told Fox News that an agreement with Iran could be reached within five days or less, adding that Iran wants to make a deal.

He said, “things are going very well.”

Read more: US, Iran talks have ‘major points of agreement’: Trump