Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, said Tuesday that talks with Tehran for a long-term peace agreement are “promising” — a day after President Trump announced a temporary ceasefire agreement after 12 days of conflict between Iran and Israel.
In an interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Witkoff said discussions with Iranian officials were already underway, as the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire appears to be holding.
“The president has said unequivocally that he wants to see — and he’s hopeful for — a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the ceasefire,” Witkoff told host Laura Ingraham.
“We’re already talking to each other, not just directly, but also through interlocutors,” he continued. “I think that the conversations are promising.”
The envoy, who has participated in negotiations with Iran on the Trump administration’s behalf, said he’s “confident” about the prospects for a deal, which he said would ensure “long-term prosperity” for Iran.
“We’re hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran, that brings it into the League of Nations, that creates long-term prosperity for Iran and, most importantly, allows for the GCC to grow economically,” Witkoff said, using an acronym for the Gulf Cooperation Council.
He also touted Trump’s authorization of U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, saying, “Eliminating this risk was crucial to the economic future and prosperity of the entire Gulf region.”
“And we’ve achieved that,” Witkoff continued. “So, I think now it’s time for us to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement.”
He added, “And I’m very confident that we’re going to achieve that.”
Ingraham then asked Witkoff whether a potential deal with Iran would allow for any uranium enrichment.
“No,” Witkoff said, without hesitation.
“They don’t need it,” the special envoy, who has also been instrumental in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, continued. “What they need is a civil, non-enrichment program, just like Abu Dhabi has. They’re running a reactor like that, called Bushehr, where they don’t have enrichment, and they’re getting fuel from the outside. And we’re going to work with them on this. But what they don’t need is enrichment.”
His comments come as multiple outlets reported that Saturday’s strikes likely only set Tehran’s nuclear program back by a few months. The administration has vowed to investigate the reports, which contrast Trump’s rhetoric that the attacks “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Witkoff and others have called the leaks “treasonous.”
