RE: USA and Iran in talks to end the war23 Mar 2026 16:17
Matters no whether Iran or USA are telling the truth, de-escalation is still de-escalation and an end to hostilities fairly soon. Neither side can win and maybe the MAGA supporters voicing more and more that they are against the war, has finally made Trump TACO again.
From BBC just now:
"Trump's comments suggest he's preparing ground for de-escalation, former UK ambassador to Iran says"
With Donald Trump announcing he's postponed threatened strikes on Iran after "productive" talks, and Tehran denying that any talks have happened, Nicholas Hopton - former UK ambassador to Iran - says that "both sides are unreliable interlocutors".
Hopton, who held the post from 2016 to 2018, thinks it is "encouraging that at least the president of the United States seems ready to start talking and negotiating towards an end of this war".
This "suggests that he's preparing the ground perhaps for some kind of de-escalation", he tells BBC Radio 5 Live.
However, Hopton says that "the most likely outcome" to the conflict is an "inconclusive one", where future flare-ups are possible.
With the US demanding Iran gives up its nuclear programme, while Tehran wants sanctions relief and to keep the Islamic Republic in place, Hopton says that "neither side is going to fully achieve the objectives they have described".