Iran Secretly Reaches Out to US, Seeks War End

Iranian intelligence operatives reached out quietly to the CIA about possible terms to end the U.S. and Israeli assault on their country shortly after the attacks began.

Yet Tehran has publicly refused negotiations with President Donald Trump, according to a new report.

Middle Eastern officials and officials from a Western country, speaking on the condition of anonymity to The New York Times, said operatives from Iran's Ministry of Intelligence contacted the CIA indirectly through another country's spy agency a day after the attacks started.

U.S. officials remain skeptical that either Washington or Tehran is prepared to pursue negotiations in the near term.

Still, the communication raises questions about whether Iranian officials could implement a ceasefire agreement as the country's leadership structure faces turmoil from ongoing Israeli strikes targeting senior figures.

White House and Iranian officials did not respond to the Times' requests for comment, and the CIA declined to comment.

Israeli officials have urged the United States to ignore the overture, according to the report, as Israel seeks to continue a weekslong campaign aimed at severely damaging Iran's military capabilities and potentially destabilizing its government.

Trump appeared to close the door on talks Tuesday morning, posting on social media that it was now "too late" for negotiations with Iran.

Speaking to reporters later in the day, Trump also noted that many Iranian figures the United States once viewed as potential counterparts had been killed during the attacks.

"Most of the people we had in mind are dead," Trump said. "Pretty soon, we are not going to know anybody."

The outreach underscored a central challenge facing the Trump administration as it weighs its broader strategy for Iran: What kind of leadership could emerge in Tehran if the current government weakens or collapses?

Early in the conflict, Trump suggested that a popular uprising might produce a new Iranian leadership. More recently, his comments indicate a more pragmatic approach, in which new figures could emerge within the existing political system.

Any agreement to halt the bombing campaign would likely require Tehran to abandon or drastically limit its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and end its support for proxy groups such as Hezbollah, according to officials familiar with the administration's thinking.

In exchange, Trump has indicated that he could allow Iran's remaining leaders to retain economic and political influence.

Trump recently pointed to developments in Venezuela as a potential model for reshaping Iran's leadership.

"What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect scenario," Trump said in an interview Sunday with The New York Times. "Leaders can be picked."

Some analysts, however, warn that such an outcome may be unrealistic.

Steven A. Cook, a Middle East expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump's recent comments may reflect differences between Washington and Israel over the ultimate goals of the military campaign.

Israel does not want to see the United States engineer what Cook described to the Times as a "Venezuela-like solution to change in Iran," possibly involving members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which controls significant portions of the country's economy.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have continued to target Iran's leadership.

On Tuesday, Israel struck a compound where senior Iranian clerics were meeting to choose a successor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday.

Ahead of the attacks, the CIA reportedly prepared an intelligence assessment examining potential leadership outcomes in Iran following a U.S.-Israeli military campaign.

Officials briefed on the report said none of the scenarios carried a high degree of confidence due to the many uncertainties surrounding Iran's political structure.