ALBAWABA - Israeli sources revealed that Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, gave his green light to Iranian officials to hold talks with representatives of the United States to end the war.
Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a delay of a planned attack on Iran's nuclear power plants for an extra five days after citing 'productive' negotiations with Tehran. However, Iran denied any talks with Washington.
However, both American and Israeli officials confirmed that direct talks took place between Iran and the U.S.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that a confidential conversation took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, with Jared Kushner in attendance.
An Iranian man watches the news on Iranian State TV (IRIB) in Tehran on March 23, 2026. Photo by - / AFP
During negotiations, Araghchi carried a message explicitly agreed by the highest levels of Iran's leadership, the country's supreme leader, Mojtaba, the son of Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of Iran, who was killed in a joint attack on February 28.
According to the Israeli news outlet, Iran's FM assured that he was operating with full authorization from Tehran. He reportedly said, "I am here after we received Mojtaba Khamenei’s consent and blessing to close the matter as soon as possible, provided our conditions are met."
According to informed sources, the two officials discussed the transfer of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile to Russia. But Iran refused, saying it would not relinquish its ballistic missile program and would not stop uranium enrichment.
