Officials in Tehran and Washington alike are trading taunts in English, often using American pop culture references.
For a second time, President Trump extended the deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump pivoted after escalating threats. Israel also announced it had killed an Iranian commander leading efforts to block the Strait of Hormuz to almost all shipping traffic.
Steve Witkoff, a diplomatic envoy, used the Board of Peace to announce an agreement that could raze a Pakistan-owned Manhattan hotel. Now the country is involved in negotiating peace talks with Iran.
A jumble of emissaries — a friend, a family member, a dove and a hawk — on the Iran crisis reflects President Trump’s improvisational approach.
Republicans and Democrats alike have criticized the Trump administration’s moves, taken to stabilize oil markets rocked by the war with Iran, warning that it is benefiting two U.S. adversaries.
A brigadier general and speaker of Parliament, Mr. Ghalibaf, one of the leaders of Iran’s war effort, has emerged as a potential contact point in any peace talks.
The president has domestic and international political motivations for touting negotiations to end the war. Iran has similar ones to deny discussions.
Iran does not want a momentary pause in the fighting, fearing that Israel and the United States would use that opportunity to beef up their forces before resuming strikes.
The Trump administration said the Middle East would “recede” in importance as the China challenge took priority. But the president started the war in Iran.