U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed in recent days that Iran has been making requests for talks, but that so far they haven’t offered a deal he can accept. Unnamed Iranian officials, however, told Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News that the reality is the other way around.
Two Iranian officials told Drop Site News that Steve Witkoff personally sent messages to officials in Tehran last week, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, exploring possibilities for resuming negotiations, Scahill reported on March 16. Iran has not replied to Witkoff. The Iranian officials told Drop Site News that Iran has also received messages from the White House via third countries.
“Because of decisions made by [Iran’s] top authorities, no response was sent to his messages,” a senior Iranian official told Drop Site News. “The message here is clear: Iran has once again closed the window for any direct negotiations,” he added. “The authority to declare a ceasefire rests solely with the country’s Supreme Leader. It’s not something the foreign minister, or any other official or organization in Iran, would send messages about to a foreign party.”
In media appearances over the weekend, Araghchi publicly rejected Trump’s characterizations. “We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” he told CBS News on March 15. “We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes. And this is what we have done so far, and we continue to do that until President Trump comes to the point [of realizing] that this is an illegal war with no victory.”
One of the sources, a senior Iranian official who spoke with Drop Site News on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. outreach indicates that the Trump administration underestimated Iran’s resolve and is seeking an off ramp. “Many direct and indirect requests for a ceasefire have been coming from the U.S.” over the past week, said the senior Iranian official. “Now that they’ve seen the Iranian side isn’t responding to those requests, they’re trying to make up for their embarrassment by twisting the narrative in the media.”
Iran, in fact, is rejecting a temporary ceasefire in favor of a permanent peace. “They went back, prepared themselves again, and attacked us once more,” Araghchi said on March 15. “This scenario cannot be repeated. We will end this war when we guarantee that it will not be repeated, and that requires a decisive and final conclusion to the war.” Iranian officials have told Drop Site News that they will not consider any ceasefire proposals until Tehran believes it has convinced the U.S. and the world that Iran will not accept repeated and periodic U.S. and Israeli military strikes.
