President Trump has decided to back down from his threat to “obliterate” Iran’s power infrastructure, citing “constructive conversations” with Tehran aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict.

In a statement, Trump expressed optimism about the progress of talks with the Islamic Republic, describing them as “very good and productive.” He noted that these discussions were being conducted with a high-ranking Iranian official, although he refrained from naming the individual.

While Trump kept the identity of Iran’s negotiator under wraps, several reports have identified the figure as Mohammad Baqher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament. However, Ghalibaf added a twist to the narrative by posting on social media platform X, denying that any negotiations with the United States were underway. He suggested that claims of such discussions were merely attempts to stabilize volatile oil markets.

Despite Ghalibaf’s denials, reports from Axios indicate that the US and Iran are indeed engaging in talks, albeit through intermediaries. Diplomats from Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey are actively facilitating dialogue between Washington and Tehran, although direct communication between the two nations has not yet occurred.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, has been at the forefront of these mediation efforts over the past two days. He has been in communication with leaders from the United States, Iran, Europe, and the Middle East, striving to bring an end to the hostilities, according to Turkish sources.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has been leading the mediation efforts over the past 48 hours, speaking with US, Iranian, European and Middle Eastern leaders on efforts to end the war, the Turks said.

The mediators are currently working to convene a meeting in Islamabad, with Vice President Vance possibly leading the US delegation along with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to Axios. 

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were reportedly dealing with Ghalibaf to secure a peace deal. 

Ghalibaf has been adamant that he was not in direct contact with the Trump administration about ending the war. 

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.

“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors,” he added. “All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved.”

Iran has repeatedly denied claims that its leadership was directly speaking with the US after the renewed prospect of peace helped stocks and oil prices to rebound on Monday. 

Trump has suggested that Iran’s denial over the talks was due to miscommunications because of the US-Israeli bombardments that have killed dozens of members of Tehran’s leadership. 

“The communication, as you know, has been blown to pieces. They were unable to talk to each other, but we’ve had very strong talks,” he told reporters. 

“If it goes well, we’re going to end up settling this. Otherwise, we just keep bombing our little hearts out.”

Ghalibaf, 64, had directly challenged Trump over his warning Saturday that Iran had until Monday night to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or their power plants would be “obliterated” by the US. 

Ghalibaf said his nation would make no such concessions and threatened to attack US critical infrastructure and energy facilities across the Middle East if the president made good on his ultimatum. 

The parliament speaker went on to say that along with US military bases, financial institutions linked to the American armed forces could be “considered legitimate targets.”

Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:

Ghalibaf, a former air force commander and mayor of Tehran, has served as the speaker of parliament since 2020, often leading lawmakers with chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” 

He is the key leader of Iran’s Principlist factions, which often clashed with the country’s reformist faction led by the slain Ali Larijani, who was seen as the de facto leader of the Islamic republic after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death at the start of the war. 

Experts believed that as Larijani’s main political rival, Qalibaf was perfectly poised to take control of Iran given his strong ties with Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Ghalibaf is widely seenserving as a link among Mojtaba, the state bureaucracy, and the IRGC.

Jon Alterman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), described Ghalibaf as a known risk given his many corruption scandals, including a 2018 case where he was accused of helping embezzle $3 billion while serving as mayor of Tehran. 

Alterman said that if Ghalibaf is in fact the man talking on behalf of Iran, he has likely proven to the US that he is somewhat capable of controlling the Islamic republic. 

“We have to keep on eye on two main issues: What is being demanded right now from both sides, and what can he persuade the people of Iran to agree to,” Alterman told the post. 

“There’s ways for these talks to go right, and there’s ways this could go wrong.” 

The White House would not confirm how the negotiations were taking place.

“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the US will not negotiate through the press. This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.