President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan quietly sought to arrange a meeting between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in Istanbul this week amid Israel’s escalating war with Iran.
But the effort collapsed when Iran’s supreme leader — in hiding due to fears of assassination — couldn’t be reached to approve it, according to three U.S. officials and a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Why it matters: New details of this backchannel effort reveal the extent to which Trump was pushing for a direct meeting with the Iranians — even offering to attend himself, if necessary — in hopes of striking a nuclear deal and avoiding U.S. military intervention.
In the days since, Trump and senior White House officials became less confident that a diplomatic solution was possible — and more convinced the U.S. would have to join the war to eliminate the Iranian nuclear program, according to U.S. officials.
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Author: Marty Kaufmann
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