{"id":224546,"date":"2026-09-17T19:26:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-claims-direct-talks-with-iran-is-diplomacy-picking-up-again-al-jazeera\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T19:26:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:26:52","slug":"trump-claims-direct-talks-with-iran-is-diplomacy-picking-up-again-al-jazeera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-claims-direct-talks-with-iran-is-diplomacy-picking-up-again-al-jazeera\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump claims direct talks with Iran: Is diplomacy picking up again? &#8211; Al Jazeera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The US president says Washington is \u2018hopefully toward the end\u2019 of its war with Iran as global energy prices remain high.<\/em><br \/>Save<br \/>Share<br \/>President Donald Trump says the United States is \u201chopefully toward the end\u201d of its war with Iran, claiming that he has directly spoken to officials in Tehran, raising the prospect of renewed diplomacy even as fighting has erupted in Yemen.<br \/>However, there is still no confirmation from Tehran that direct negotiations with Washington have resumed. Just a day earlier, a senior Iranian official publicly rejected talks unless Iran\u2019s conditions were met. Tehran, which has, in effect, closed the Strait of Hormuz, has been demanding that the US honour the terms of the deal signed in June.<br \/>Trump\u2019s comments come as the conflict has expanded into Yemen, putting increasing pressure on global energy supplies amid an Iran-imposed blockade of the strait through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes. Oil prices crossed $100 per barrel last week and continue to rise as Iran-linked Houthis have damaged Saudi oil installations amid renewed fighting.<br \/>So, what is the latest on the diplomatic front, and will the war end soon?<br \/>\u201cWell, hopefully we are toward the end of the war,\u201d he told reporters on Wednesday. \u201cThey want to make a deal. We\u2019ll see how that works out.\u201d<br \/>When asked by a reporter whether he had recently heard from the Iranian side, Trump said he had spoken with them \u201cdirectly\u201d.<br \/>The comments come after Trump on Monday said he was open to talks, and added that Iran \u201cwants to make a deal, quickly and badly\u201d and that he would decide whether Washington would engage with Tehran.<br \/>However, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, accused Trump of sending \u201cmixed signals\u201d and said \u201cno talks until Iran\u2019s conditions are met\u201d.<br \/>Trump\u2019s claim that he has heard from Iran \u201cdirectly\u201d is significant because negotiations between Washington and Tehran have repeatedly depended on intermediaries, including Qatar, Pakistan and Oman. This is not the first time that Trump has claimed direct communication with Iran.<br \/>Former Iranian diplomat Abbas Khameyar dismissed Trump\u2019s claims. \u201cI don\u2019t think there has been any additional effort beyond what was already under way in recent weeks,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<br \/>There is a US narrative, he stated, \u201cwith tweets and statements by President Trump claiming that the Iranians are calling, pleading and asking for a meeting. But nobody believes this, and matters have not unfolded in that way.\u201d<br \/>He added that Iran\u2019s diplomatic activity has not moved beyond the framework already in place in recent weeks, centred on securing enforcement of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) rather than opening new negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Iran\u2019s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a telephone call with Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been leading the high-stakes diplomatic and mediation efforts between Washington and Tehran.<br \/>Araghchi held the phone call while still in Beijing, during which they discussed and consulted on the latest regional developments and issues of mutual interest, according to Tasnim.<br \/>A day earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the US and Iran to exercise restraint and \u201creopen the Strait of Hormuz at an early date\u201d, following his meeting with Araghchi in Beijing.<br \/>Araghchi, in a statement after the meeting, said that Tehran seeks \u201cthe restoration of calm to the region and friendly and peaceful relations with our neighbours\u201d.<br \/>\u201cIn this regard we have begun dialogue with the countries of the region,\u201d he added.<br \/>In a post on X, Araghchi described consultations with Chinese officials as \u201csuccessful\u201d, saying Tehran values the strategic partnership it has built with Beijing.<br \/>\u201cToday\u2019s decisions will decide the future strategic balance in the region, with immeasurable knock-on effects,\u201d Araghchi said on Thursday.<br \/><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><br \/>China has avoided direct involvement in the war, but President Xi Jinping, at the BRICS summit in New Delhi over the weekend, offered Beijing\u2019s willingness to play a role in peace efforts. He called on BRICS nations to advance peace in the Middle East.<br \/>Huiyao Wang, president of the Center For China and Globalization think tank in Beijing, says China\u2019s role in international affairs is increasing in importance during the current geopolitical turmoil.<br \/>\u201cChina has an enormous role to exercise if needed. So the mere fact that the two fighting parties have no end in sight shows the need for a big guarantor to come in \u2026 I think the US wants to end this war and they also need China\u2019s help,\u201d Wang told Al Jazeera.<br \/>Meanwhile, US media outlet Axios is reporting that Trump is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week to discuss the conflict, which has hugely affected oil exports from the Middle Eastern countries.<br \/>Diplomatic efforts have repeatedly stalled since a <a href=\"\/news\/2026\/8\/17\/us-iran-memorandum-of-understanding-expires-how-and-why-it-fell-apart\">Pakistan-brokered<\/a> MoU signed by Washington and Tehran collapsed last month, as the two sides accused each other of violating their commitments.<br \/>The MoU was supposed to kick-start a 60-day period for peace talks between the warring sides and included provisions for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a major flashpoint in the war.<br \/>Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier this month that Tehran would return to the agreement if Washington did the same.<br \/>US officials met representatives of Yemen\u2019s Houthi movement at the US embassy in Muscat over the weekend, five sources told Reuters news agency. Oman helped organise the meeting.<br \/>The Houthis told US officials they did not intend to attack American vessels and remained committed to their 2025 ceasefire with Washington, according to two sources.<br \/>One source said they also pledged not to target Israeli or other commercial vessels, with the exception of Saudi ships.<br \/>The conflict had largely subsided in recent years after a 2022 ceasefire between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis, but reignited in July.<br \/>In recent weeks, the Houthis have seized Yemen\u2019s entire Red Sea coastline to cement their grip on the key Bab al-Mandeb strait \u2013 a vital maritime route connecting Asia with Europe \u2013 while declaring a blockade on Saudi shipping.<br \/>The strategic waterway is a critical maritime corridor linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and has become an alternative shipping route as the US war against Iran choked the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Al Jazeera English:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiqgFBVV95cUxPLV9vSTI4ZmRERXd3V2tWbnlwVlA4dzhneHdpY0FJZzVfcXFETUVLVFdob1pfbVlKOFJxVi1vSERMTHNpWmRnUlloQTVMTnhlZlAyc1lUck5Zc2RZSDVBSXJqclI2a01DeE1JNHZVNlV3VzQzVzdqYVBUeWRHYmFnLVNhXzhXcmFBV2JzUUJwSUhhTWJ4LUNjempNNE9aeG84YzYzdlA1MVpZZ9IBrwFBVV95cUxOc05rMUNncTg2ai01TkRneHVsY2YtTUQxR2E3NXV3Y0J5ZDVmU0xjSmplYWV0a1g2VTFNeXBNT3JYZ1RYRTdmb01XZzk5OWVjQmVWWkJZbkY2S3dHcG1TbkUzR0JVd2VTNmYxQVVESm9feTZocEY3dXdxMGJZVEpRYlZKZzRpZ0V2M2JXakltRmU0MFc4R3VHUTE4WEdnYXNnQk13SlNCZkNYb253UFNZ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US president says Washington is \u2018hopefully toward the end\u2019 of its war with Iran as global energy prices remain high.SaveSharePresident Donald Trump says the United States is \u201chopefully toward the end\u201d of its war with Iran, claiming that he has directly spoken to officials in Tehran, raising the prospect of renewed diplomacy even as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}