---
title: "Trump envoy Steve Witkoff says US-Iran talks are 'promising'"
description: "WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday that talks between the United States and Iran were \"promising\" and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-25-trump-envoy-steve-witkoff-says-us-iran-talks-are-promising/"
published: "2025-06-25T05:15:06"
updated: "2025-06-25T05:15:07"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 267
---

# Trump envoy Steve Witkoff says US-Iran talks are 'promising'

> WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday that talks between the United States and Iran were "promising" and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal.

By Reuters · Published 25 June 2025, 07:15 SAST · Updated 25 June 2025, 07:15 SAST

## Key points
- In a diplomatic tango that could make even the most seasoned negotiators dizzy, U.S. officials are cautiously optimistic about striking a peace deal with Iran, all while dodging airstrikes and nuclear ambitions like it's a high-stakes game of Twister.
- U.S. and Iran engage in promising indirect talks aimed at a long-term peace agreement regarding Iran's nuclear program.
- Trump announces a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, intended to halt escalating airstrikes since June.
- The conflict has heightened tensions in a region already strained by Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.
- Israel, believed to possess nuclear weapons, seeks to prevent Iran from developing its own, complicating diplomatic efforts.

## Content

By Kanishka Singh

KEY QUOTES

"We are already talking to each other, not just directly but also through interlocutors. I think that the conversations are promising. We are hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran," Witkoff said in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" show.

"Now its for us to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement, and I am very confident that we are going to achieve that," he added.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Since April, Iran and the U.S. have [held indirect talks](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS0N3OK050&linkedFromStory=true) aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran's nuclear program. Tehran says its program is peaceful and Washington says it wants to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon.

Trump announced a [ceasefire](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3SQ12C&linkedFromStory=true) on Monday between U.S. ally Israel and its regional rival Iran which was aimed at ending their air war that began on June 13 when Israel struck Iran. The conflict had raised alarms in a region that was already on edge since the start of [Israel's war in Gaza](https://www.reuters.com/world/israel-hamas/) in October 2023.

CONTEXT

Israel is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons and says its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran is a party to the [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3SJ0PL&linkedFromStory=true) while Israel is not.

The U.S. [struck](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3SO00J&linkedFromStory=true) Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend and Iran [targeted](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3SQ01O&linkedFromStory=true) a U.S. base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation, before Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire on social media.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry)