Türkiye, Pakistan and Egypt passed messages between Washington and Tehran over the past two days, U.S.-based Axios reported Monday, citing an American source.
The report follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he ordered a five-day suspension of planned strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure. Trump has linked the suspension to “success” in talks with Iran, though Iran denied any negotiations.
The Axios report said that the foreign ministers of the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
"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," a source familiar with the details told Axios.
The semi-official Mehr news agency, citing an Iranian source, said there is "no dialogue" between Tehran and Washington.
The source said Trump's comments were part of his efforts "to lower energy prices and buy time to implement military plans."
The Iranian source acknowledged that regional countries have put forward initiatives aimed at reducing tensions.
"We are not the party that started this war, and all such demands should be directed to Washington," he added.
Türkiye, a neighbor of Iran and a NATO ally of the United States, has been keen on defusing the conflict.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has repeatedly announced that they were ready to step in to mediate between the two countries, although he expressed concerns that Israel, also part of the conflict, would prefer prolonging the conflict.
Fidan held Monday phone calls with his Egyptian and Norwegian counterparts. Foreign ministry sources said Fidan, Norway’s Espen Barth Eide and Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty discussed efforts to stop the war.
Türkiye’s top diplomat was also engaged in phone diplomacy Sunday with his counterparts across the world, days after he joined a meeting of top diplomats of the Gulf countries on the conflict, which spilled over to the entire region.
