From Axios reporter Barak Ravid:
Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan have been passing messages between the U.S. and Iran over the past two days in an effort to de-escalate, U.S. source says
Senior officials from the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the U.S. source says
"The mediation is ongoing and making progress. The discussion is about ending the war and resolving all outstanding issues. We hope to have answers soon," the source says
I tend to think Ravid as a mouthpiece for the White House in this war.
The important thing here is that he's trying to establish that there were actually talks. That said, it doesn't really push back on the idea that others contacted Iran and they said, "the US needs to stop first".
Now the substance of these talks from the Iran side is still less important than going from 'bombing power plants' to 'the US (at least) wants to talk". We've taken some big tail risks off the table here and might be getting actual progress.
At the same time, Iran's comments that Trump wants to calm markets and buy time for more war is also valid. The US started the war during negotiations so Iran -- rightly or wrongly -- thinks all negotiations are a ruse. There's also the reality that US marines will be arriving in the region in the next day or so.
