President Donald Trump said talks with Iran continued into Tuesday and that ‘one never knows’ how they will end. Posting on Truth Social, he said the conversations have been ongoing — days at a time — and urged Iran to ‘make a Deal.’
Marco Rubio, speaking to Congress, said Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared publicly but ‘appears to be increasingly engaging at some level’ in negotiations with the U.S. Rubio said communications have been handled in writing and through intermediaries, and that Iranian negotiators often wait ‘three to five days’ for directives from leadership. He attributed delays to logistical constraints (including couriers), internal divisions within Iran over what to accept, and communications gaps that leave many tactical decisions to commanders on the ground. Rubio emphasized that U.S. negotiators are dealing with interlocutors who must then seek approval from their own system about what they are allowed to agree to.
Rubio also outlined the initial nuclear commitments the U.S. wants Iran to make before moving to detailed talks. He said Iran would need to agree to negotiate the disposition of highly enriched uranium reportedly stored in a mountain, and to accept severe, long-term limits — or the cancellation — of enrichment activity. The administration wants a clear Iranian commitment to enter those negotiations, for example by agreeing that they will dispose of enriched uranium, with the mechanisms for doing so left to future negotiation.
Separately, a senior Hezbollah leader said the group has agreed to a ‘genuine and comprehensive’ ceasefire but warned it will respond to any bombings of southern Lebanon by striking targets deeper than the northern Israeli settlements.