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Back-Channel Diplomacy on Iran
(Wall Street Journal) Summer Said - Foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gathered Thursday in Riyadh for talks aimed at finding a diplomatic off-ramp to the war in Iran. Egyptian intelligence officials open a channel with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and put forward a proposal to halt hostilities for five days to build confidence for a ceasefire, officials said. But Arab mediators privately expressed skepticism that the U.S. and Iran could quickly reach an agreement, noting that the two sides remained far apart. Trump's assertion that the talks were productive was met with pushback from Iranian officials, who denied that the discussions were taking place. The U.S. still wants what it sought from Iran before the war started: the dismantlement of Tehran's nuclear work, a suspension of its ballistic missile program, and a stop to its support for proxy militias.