US intelligence indicates that Iran is not willing to negotiate an end to the war

US intelligence assessments have indicated that Iran is currently unwilling to negotiate an end to the war.

According to assessments conducted by several US intelligence agencies, the Iranian regime believes it is in a strong enough position to continue the war and not give in to US demands, the New York Times reported, citing US officials familiar with the assessments.

According to assessments conducted by numerous US intelligence agencies, the regime believes it is in a sufficiently strong position to continue the war and not give in to US demands.

The report also indicates that Iran is willing to keep diplomatic channels open, but does not trust the United States or think that US President Donald Trump is serious about engaging in negotiations.

Two Iranian officials and one Pakistani official told the NYT that the Iranian regime could engage in diplomacy under the right conditions. However, they needed to see that the United States was willing to seriously discuss ending the war rather than negotiate a temporary ceasefire.

US and Iranian officials have both confirmed that the two countries have exchanged messages through intermediaries, but are not discussing the terms of the ceasefire or an end to the war.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran was calling for a permanent end to the war and that no mediator-facilitated talks regarding a temporary ceasefire had taken place.

On Wednesday, Trump said Iran’s new leader had asked the United States for a ceasefire in a post on Truth Social.

“The President of the New Iranian Regime, much less radicalized and much more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a ceasefire!” Trump’s post reads, although it is not clear whether he was referring to the new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, or to Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, in office since 2024.

US claims about talks are ‘false and unfounded’

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson called Trump’s statements “false and baseless” on Iranian state television, according to a Reuters report.

Iranian officials have repeatedly denied U.S. claims that negotiations were ongoing or appeared promising.

Another senior Iranian official told Reuters on March 26 that no plan for negotiations between the United States and Iran “appears realistic at this stage,” despite the United States presenting a 15-point plan to end the war.

The official informed Reuters that Iran had deemed the plan “unilateral and unfair,” serving only U.S. and Israeli interests, and lacking the “minimum requirements for success.”