https://arab.news/5h5cv
US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that “good and productive” peace talks with Iran had taken place. Although the focus was on restoring maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump referred to “15 points of agreement” after those talks, saying “I think there’s a very good chance we’re going to end up in a deal.” As similar promises have been made before that turned out to be illusory, many officials and media commentators dismissed the comments as wishful thinking or a ploy to calm jittery markets, which did respond positively to his remarks.
These talks were important. Although American— and Israeli — attacks have continued unabated, the talks spared the region another round of escalation: On Saturday, Trump had given Tehran 48 hours to “reopen” the Strait of Hormuz or else the US would target Iran’s energy and power infrastructure, which was certain to elicit more attacks by Iran. Citing the progress in the talks, Trump suspended the earlier ultimatum, postponing for only five days his plan to destroy Iran’s energy installations.
Iran initially denied any talks taking place and state media claimed that Trump “retreated” from his deadline “out of fear of Iran’s response.” However, later on Monday, there were multiple reliable reports that Iranian officials had acknowledged receiving “points from the US through mediators and they are being reviewed.”
