Iran War Live Updates: Trump Officials and Iran Plan New Talks Despite Mixed Messages

Iraq war: US-Iran backchannel talks resume despite Trump envoy denials

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

Senior Iranian and American officials have opened a discreet negotiating channel in Oman to halt the slide toward open conflict that has killed 17 US troops and wounded 312 since January.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff landed in Muscat on Tuesday for a second round after Tehran signaled willingness to freeze uranium enrichment at 60 % purity in exchange for partial sanctions relief, three officials familiar with the discussions told reporters.

The backchannel exists alongside the president’s public vow that “Iran will never get a bomb” and fresh Pentagon deployments of B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia. The contradiction reflects growing unease inside the administration that the undeclared air war is spiraling beyond the “maximum pressure” script set before January.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied negotiations were under way. “We do not reward aggression,” he said on Fox News Sunday. Yet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted — then deleted — a photograph of himself boarding a state jet bound for Muscat on the same morning Witkoff arrived. The sequence, captured by flight-tracking sites, undercut both governments’ official silence.

Pentagon data show US forces have struck Iranian-linked sites in Iraq, Syria and Yemen 46 times since 21 March, killing an estimated 87 militiamen. Iran responded with drone swarms that pierced air defenses at al-Asad base in western Iraq on 7 April, causing the largest single-day US casualty toll since 2020. Video released by CENTCOM shows MQ-9 Reapers intercepting 11 drones; 3 still reached living quarters.

The toll has revived war powers arguments on Capitol Hill. A bipartisan group led by Senator Todd Young plans to force a vote next week on a resolution requiring congressional approval for “offensive operations” against Iran. The measure may reach the 51-vote threshold in the Senate, though House Republicans have vowed to block it. Young said the backchannel proved “the administration knows the current path ends in a war the American people don’t want.”

European diplomats, sidelined since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord, are pushing their own compromise. France, Germany and the United Kingdom presented a draft at the UN Security Council on Monday that would pause sanctions on Iranian oil exports for 120 days if Tehran shipped out its 145 kg stockpile of 60 % enriched uranium. Russia and China immediately signaled support, isolating Washington if it vetoes.

Inside Iran, the currency has imploded. The rial traded at 715,000 to the dollar on the Tehran street market Tuesday, down 28 % since December, triggering panic buying of gold coins. Bazaar merchants closed shops in three cities to protest tax hikes introduced to replace lost oil revenue. Videos verified by Amnesty International show security forces firing live rounds in Esfahan on Monday; at least 2 protesters died.

The economic freefall weakens hardliners who demanded retaliation for Israeli strikes on Iranian generals in Damascus last month. A senior Revolutionary Guard commander told the domestic news site Entekhab that “another full exchange risks toppling the state.” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who usually delivers a fiery sermon for Army Day, instead spoke for 9 minutes on Wednesday and praised “prudent resistance,” a phrase analysts interpret as approval for the Oman track.

Israel remains the wild card. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that Israel “will not be bound by any uranium deal” and maintains the right to act “in all arenas.” Israeli jets struck a suspected missile depot near Homs in central Syria hours later, killing 4 Syrian soldiers, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. US officials said they received 30 minutes advance notice, standard practice but a sign Jerusalem intends to keep military pressure high.

US airlines are already rerouting. United, Delta and American suspended Dubai and Doha flights through May, costing Gulf carriers an estimated $340 million in lost codeshare revenue. Lloyd’s of London escalated war risk premiums for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to 1.2 % of hull value, the highest since the 1980s tanker war.

Background

The two nations have danced on the brink since Trump exited the JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that erased 2 million barrels per day of Iranian oil exports. Tehran responded first with calibrated violations, exceeding enrichment limits every 60 days, then with a shadow naval war that saw limpet mines rip holes in tankers near the Fujairah anchorage in May 2019.

Direct confrontation peaked in January 2020 when a US drone killed Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad airport. Iran launched ballistic missiles at al-Asad base, inflicting traumatic brain injuries on 109 American troops but deliberately avoiding fatalities. Both sides stepped back, preferring proxies in Iraq and Yemen until the Gaza war reignited the cycle last October.

The current uranium stockpile of 6,115 kg, including 145 kg enriched to 60 %, is enough for 3 bombs if refined further, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Israeli intelligence claims breakout time has shrunk to 12 days, down from 12 months under the original accord.

What’s Next

Witkoff is expected to meet Iranian security chief Ali Shamkhani in Muscat again on Friday to test whether the 60 % freeze offer is real or a stall. If the outlines hold, European diplomats hope to convene formal P5+1 talks by mid-May, days before Iran’s parliament election and a potential Israeli decision on unilateral strikes.