A direct communication channel has been resumed in recent days between US envoy Steve Witkow and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
This is reported by Axios, citing its own American source.
It is not clear how substantial the messages exchanged between Araghchi and Witkow were, but this is the first known direct communication between the countries since the start of the war more than two weeks ago.
Araghchi published a rebuttal in X: "My last contact with Mr. Witkow was before his employer's decision to kill diplomacy with another illegal military attack on Iran. Any claim to the contrary is a deception of oil traders and the public.”
When asked about the comment, the U.S. official said Araghchi was lying and that he initiated the contact with Witkoff.
Drop Site News reported Monday that Witkoff had been sending messages to Araghchi and cited Iranian officials as saying that the Iranian foreign minister ignored the White House envoy’s messages.
The U.S. official said the contact came from the Iranian side, but the U.S. “is not negotiating” with Iran.
President Trump said Monday that Iran had communicated with the U.S., but that it was unclear whether the Iranian officials involved were authorized to make a deal.
“They want to make a deal. They're talking to our people, we have people who want to negotiate, but we have no idea who they are," Trump told reporters.
Despite his skepticism that Tehran is ready to make a deal, Trump said he was not opposed to talks with the Iranians, "because sometimes good things come out of it."
He noted that it was unclear who was making decisions in Iran, as many senior officials were dead. He also mentioned that Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had not been seen and might be dead.
A senior U.S. official rejected Iran's demand for "reparations" as part of a peace agreement, but said Trump was open to a deal that would allow Iran to "integrate with the rest of the world and make money from its oil".
"The president is always open to a deal. But he doesn't negotiate from a position of weakness. "He is not backing down from the reasons why this conflict started," the official said.
Iranian officials have said publicly in recent days that they are not holding any ceasefire talks with the Trump administration.
Officials say Iran is not interested in a temporary ceasefire that would allow the United States and Israel to regroup and strike again, but wants assurances that any peace agreement will be permanent.
Araghchi was not considered a key decision-maker in Iran before the war, and U.S. officials do not believe he has the authority to make decisions today.
But the Iranian foreign minister appears to be coordinating with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, who has been Iran's de facto civilian leader since the assassination of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, sources said.
U.S. officials see Araghchi as an interlocutor, to someone to turn to because they have a pre-existing relationship with him - and he is still alive.