US President Donald Trump claimed on March 23 that secret “strong talks” with Tehran are already underway via intermediators, as the US seeks an off-ramp to end the war and floats a 15-point plan.

“We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have points, major points of agreement – I would say almost all points of agreement,” the US president told reporters as he was about to board Air Force One.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have reportedly made several approaches to Tehran about kicking off negotiations, but so far have been rebuffed. However, Trump’s threat to destroy Iran’s power grid may have pushed Tehran to entertain the idea of talks. Trump threatened “irreversible destruction” of Iran’s power grid on March 22, but has now extended the deadline by five days to March 28.

Separately, Trump said that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made the final decision to attack Iran. “Let’s do it,” Hegseth said during the discussion on whether to start the war, Trump reported during comments to the press on March 24.

15-point plan

Witkoff and Kushner have reportedly been in touch with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the powerful speaker of the Iranian parliament, via mediators from  Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey for two days about ending the conflict, the Telegraph reports. Iran denied the claims that talks are taking place, calling the reports “fake news”.

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” Ghalibaf said in a social media post on March 23.

The foreign ministers of the three countries reportedly mediated separate talks between Witkoff and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister on March 22 and reached a readiness for Washington and Tehran to start negotiations.

“The Iranians were forthcoming, and the Americans wanted to move as well because of the markets and the oil prices,” an Israeli source told Axios.

Amongst the terms of the 15-point plan on the table, the Trump administration is demanding Iran give up its missile programme for five years, halt uranium enrichment and decommission the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear facilities that the United States unsuccessfully bombed in 2025.

“Fifteen points. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. That’s number one, two, and three,” Mr Trump told reporters on Monday. “They’ve agreed to that.”

In return, the US is offering security guarantees against another attack and to close its primary military bases in the region, which hosts some 50,000 troops.

There is little common ground with the demands that Tehran has made for ending the conflict. Araghchi feels betrayed in three rounds of talks prior to the start of the war, where the US backed off after tentative agreements were reached.

On the eve of the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi almost concluded a deal to dilute Iran's stockpile of some 400 kilos of highly enriched uranium and to limit its missile developments. In a post on social media he said that “a deal was within reach” before “Mr Trump, yet again, who ultimately ordered bombing of the negotiating table,” waking up the next morning to reports of Israeli and US missiles striking Iran.

Since then, Araghchi has said that Tehran now regards the White House as an entirely unreliable council party and that ceasefire negotiations are off the table for the meantime.

In a written statement read out on TV, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei As laid out a set of three harsh demands on March 22 to bring the conflict to an end that includes a comprehensive security guarantee that Israel will never attack Iran again, reparations, and the withdrawal of US troops from the entire gulf region.

All parties are interested in reshaping regional security, but all parties have very different agendas as to how that might look.

“Iran, too, may present demands regarding US bases in the Gulf,” Fidan said, adding that Gulf states may outline post-war conditions tied to economic co-operation.

An Israeli official told Axios that the mediators are trying to organise a meeting in Islamabad between Ghalibaf the US envoys and US vice president JD Vance later this week.

GCC moving towards entering the war

The efforts come as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comes closer to being drawn into the war. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates have taken steps toward joining the war against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 24.

Riyadh agreed to give expanded US military access to King Fahd Air Base, according to WSJ sources, in an apparent reversal of earlier statements that barred the bases from being used to launch attacks on Iran. The US has also reportedly used its base in Bahrain to launch attacks on Iran.

The Gulf nations are being increasingly frustrated as Iran shifts from the mere disruption strategy to one of destruction after the Iranian strike on the South Pars gas complex in Qatar on March 18 that took 17% of its production offline.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan met in Riyadh on March 18 to discuss a possible security pact and taking up arms against Iran as the war increasingly impacts their economies. The Turkish foreign minister says the four countries are exploring how to combine their strengths amid growing regional tensions and the war in Iran.

Since then Araghchi has held separate phone calls with the foreign ministers of Russia, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, and Turkey to discuss the regional situation amid the ongoing war on March 23.

Analysts say one of the nightmare scenarios for Iran is if the Arab countries unite in a Muslim coalition against Iran and also try to organize insurrections within the country.

Turkey has intensified efforts to establish a regional security pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as Ankara pushes for greater defence cooperation among key Muslim-majority states, Middle East Eye.

Discussions over the proposed arrangement have been under way for nearly a year, according to a Pakistani minister, cited by Middle East Eye. Turkish officials have also explored expanding the initiative to include Egypt, aiming to create a broader platform for coordination on defence industry collaboration and regional security issues.

Turkey ceasefire efforts intensify

Turkey is seeking an off-ramp to the war involving Iran, engaging both the US and the Islamic Republic in an effort to initiate negotiations on a potential deal, sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye on March 24.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a series of phone calls on March 23 with his Iranian, Egyptian and European counterparts to discuss steps towards ending the conflict, according to sources in the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The same day, he also spoke with senior US officials, possibly including US envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, before holding further discussions with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Pakistan, “evaluating initiatives” to halt the fighting, the sources added.

According to those familiar with Ankara’s thinking, Turkey is pushing for a brief ceasefire to create space for negotiations, Middle East Eye reports. Over the weekend, Fidan said Ankara was considering a short, temporary pause that would allow talks to proceed while preserving the option for parties to resume hostilities if negotiations fail.

Israel sticking point

While the Trump administration appears to be increasingly keen to end the war quickly, Israel’s strategic goal is broader. Tel Aviv wants to see the Iranian economy collapse, or at least sufficiently weakened so that it will pose no strategic threat to Israel in the future, say military analysts.

Fidan warned that “Israel may pursue a policy of prolonging the war and inflicting greater damage on Iran,” adding: “In the face of such an approach, the stance the United States takes will become crucial. Israel gives the impression that it will not stop until it has eliminated the military and industrial targets it considers vital. The problem is that Israel does not want peace.”

A Turkish source told Middle East Eye that Ankara is attempting to build a unified negotiating front with European and Gulf partners to counterbalance Israeli influence.

“Trump could declare victory at any time,” the Middle East Eye reported. “But the Israelis appear determined to continue the attacks.”