Witkoff: 'Positive' signs after Pakistan confirms back-channel talks with Iran

The White House envoy says Iran "miscalculated" in assuming the US "can’t win militarily" as Iran weighs a 15-point US plan to end the war.

Jared Szuba , Rosaleen Carroll

Mar 26, 2026

President Donald Trump’s top Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, claimed on Thursday he had seen “strong and positive messaging and talks” after he provided the Pakistani government with a 15-point plan to end the war with Iran.

Witkoff made the remarks in a televised meeting with Trump and members of his cabinet at the White House.

“We will see where things lead, and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point, with no good alternatives for them, other than more death and destruction,” Witkoff said, reading from a binder of scripted notes.

“We have strong signs that this is a possibility, and if a deal happens, it will be great for the country of Iran.”

Iranian officials have publicly denied there have been any negotiations with the United States since the war started on Feb. 28.

On Wednesday, Iran’s state-backed Press TV reported that Tehran had "responded negatively" to the American proposal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later clarified that while no direct dialogue or negotiation with the US had occurred, messages had been exchanged through intermediaries.

"Messages being conveyed through our friendly countries and us responding by stating our positions or issuing the necessary warnings is not called negotiation or dialogue," Araghchi told state television, drawing a distinction between informal exchanges and formal talks.

On Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed his government had facilitated indirect communications between the US and Iranian officials.

“US-Iran indirect talks are taking place through messages being relayed by Pakistan," Dar wrote on X. “The United States has shared 15 points, being deliberated upon by Iran."

Earlier in the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Witkoff briefly recounted failed negotiations he led with Iranian officials alongside Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the weeks before the US launched the war.

Witkoff said the White House’s demands were refused by Iran’s negotiating team, leading him and Kushner to believe Tehran was seeking to buy time.

“We heard the following statement: They would not give up diplomatically, but we could not win militarily,” Witkoff said on Thursday.

“In other words, they were again miscalculating the success of Midnight Hammer, which was a total success,” he said, referring to June 2025 US air and naval strikes that buried — but did not destroy — Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles. Trump has repeatedly claimed the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.

“These are incontrovertible signs … that the regime had not given their negotiating team authority to make a deal,” Witkoff said.

© Al Monitor