March 23, 2026 01:39 PM UTC

Who Is Trump Negotiating With In Iran?

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Washington Post reports, today President Donald Trump announced what he calls “productive talks” in negotiations with Iran to end the war he started over three weeks ago, threatening the global economy with no clear goals or end strategy:

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States is negotiating with Iran to end the three-week-old war, declaring that the two sides had two days of “very good and productive conversations” that will continue throughout this week.

It was the president’s first acknowledgment of high-level talks between the two sides since the United States and Israel began bombarding Iran on Feb. 28, hammering the country’s military and leadership, and leading to a global energy shortage that has brought widespread economic pain.

The announcement of talks offered a pathway for the Trump administration to find a way to open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has closed by threatening strikes on shipping traffic. Tehran’s attacks on ships have paralyzed the 30 percent of global crude oil that goes through the waterway, giving Iran significant leverage…

But NBC News reports a small discrepancy: the Iranians are unaware of these negotiations:

Iran’s Foreign Ministry appeared to counter Trump’s version of events…saying in a statement published by semi-official news agency Mehr News that there was “no dialogue between Tehran and Washington.” [Pols emphasis]

It said Trump’s delay was “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans,” while acknowledging “there are initiatives from regional countries to reduce tensions.” Iranian state media said the president had “backed down” following Iran’s vow of swift retaliation for any attacks on its energy infrastructure.

It’s very difficult at this point to know which version of events is accurate. The war has clearly not met the original stated goal of regime change in Iran, which has now been replaced by the amorphous goal of neutralizing Iran’s military threat, and the collateral economic damage from the disruption of trade is piling up across the globe. Every one of Trump’s threatened escalations of the war carries a huge economic risk that would last long after hostilities end. This means the blown deadline imposed by Trump could be the result of the Iranians negotiating…or it could be Trump chickening out.

Trump announcement of a delay in threatened strikes on Iranian civilian power plants and talks immediately reduced oil prices and sent stocks rebounding by some 800 points today. Everyone at this point is tired of this deeply unpopular foreign misadventure and (hopefully) looking for a way out instead of further escalation. Once that happens, voters will be left to assess what this latest expenditure of blood and treasure netted America in return. Based on the polls, their judgment isn’t going to be kind, and it’s Republicans like Rep. Gabe Evans who made excuses for this foreign entanglement that contravened MAGA’s core beliefs who will pay the price.

And that’s assuming nothing else terrible happens.