New reports confirm that Iran has been pressuring the United States to broker a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. According to the Financial Times, officials representing the Islamic Republic of Iran indirectly urged the negotiations at the same time that it also told the United States to hold back any attacks of its regional proxies.
Officials from both governments met privately in January in Oman; members included the administration’s Middle East Czar Brett McGurk, special envoy on Iran Abram Paley, and Iran Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, according to the report.
Foreign Desk News writes:
American officials urged their Iran counterparts to control the assaults carried out by the Yemen Houthi militants, who are supported by Iran, in the Red Sea. Additionally, they conveyed apprehensions regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The officials informed The New York Times that they demanded an end to the attacks by Iran-backed terrorist factions in Iraq and Syria against military forces.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kani requested that the U.S. broker a ceasefire in Gaza. However, it was unclear whether this request aimed at a temporary halt to the conflict or a permanent resolution between Israel and Hamas.
“With Hamas facing defeat and Hezbollah facing a likely Israeli offensive into southern Lebanon, Iran is pulling strings to protect these groups—including in this case through intermediaries in Oman,” said Jerry Canto, an analyst at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). “Although internal and local circumstances also influence these groups’ decisions, Tehran prepared them for decades and then ordered them to escalate against Israel and the U.S.”
Reportedly two Iran regime officials told The New York Times that the Islamic Republic persists in disavowing direct control over the actions of its proxies, specifically the Houthis. However, they indicated that Iran could exert influence over these groups to halt attacks entirely once a ceasefire was reached.
The White House has maintained indirect diplomatic communication with Tehran as a means of addressing Iran’s various threats, according to a source familiar with the discussions who spoke to The Financial Times.
“Iran has repeatedly said it only has a form of spiritual influence [over the rebels]. They can’t dictate to the Houthis, but they can negotiate and talk,” an Iran official told The Financial Times. Following October 7, the Iran-backed Houthis attacked American and international commercial ships in support of Hamas. Despite targeted military U.S. and U.K. strikes, the Houthis continue to launch attacks in the Red Sea, receiving military weaponry from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).