Washington (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – As Israel and Iran continued to exchange strikes overnight, marking the conflict’s ninth day, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is still in “correspondence” with Iranian officials, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, as reported by The Washington Post.
On June 21, 2025, Israel and Iran had been hitting each other for nine straight days and with no sign of a ceasefire or diplomatic breakthrough. On the ninth day, Iran launched another barrage of missiles into Israel, sending millions of Israelis to bomb shelters, with no reported casualties.
According to The Washington Post, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is still in contact with Iranian officials, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, although Witkoff was not present at talks between the top diplomats from Iran, the UK, France, Germany and the EU in Geneva on Friday.
The US President was dismissive of the discussions, which came to an end without a breakthrough:
“Europe is not going to be able to help on this one,”
He told journalists.
What outcome came from the Geneva nuclear talks?
As reported, a meeting between Iran’s foreign minister and top European diplomats on Friday yielded hopes of further talks. Still, no immediate concrete breakthrough, Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, emerged from talks at a Geneva hotel about 3 1/2 hours after Iran’s Abbas Araghchi arrived for the meeting.
Following the conclusion of the talks, the three European nations and the EU released a joint written statement, stating that they “discussed avenues towards a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear program.” They repeated their concerns about the “expansion” of the nuclear program, adding that it has “no credible civilian purpose.”
Are Iran and the US still in communication?
According to Reuters, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have had several phone conversations since Israel launched its strikes on Iran last week, as part of efforts to resolve the crisis diplomatically, three diplomats told Reuters. The talks reportedly included a brief discussion of a US proposal presented to Iran in late May, which aims to establish a regional consortium to enrich uranium outside Iran, an offer Tehran has yet to accept.
