U.S. media reports that the U.S. and Iran have reached a ceasefire agreement "hope is fading"

Xinhua News Agency, Washington, April 6 (Xinhua) — According to a report by the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal on April 6, mediators feel pessimistic that Iran has “yielded” before the deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and that hope for a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement is “dwindling.”

The report said some U.S. officials stated that before Trump’s deadline of 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the 7th arrives, the gap between the positions of the U.S. and Iran is “too large to narrow.” At the same time, citing Arab officials familiar with the situation, the report said Iranian officials have told mediators that even if progress is made in negotiations with the United States, they expect the United States to continue striking Iran, and Israel will also continue airstrikes on Iran to “remove” Iran’s senior officials.

Citing remarks from some U.S. officials, the report said Trump is “not as optimistic” about the U.S. reaching an agreement with Iran behind the scenes, and he is expected to issue the final order for strikes against Iran on the evening of the 7th in Eastern Time. However, Trump’s thinking could change at any time depending on how the situation develops. Trump is eager to end the war, and he knows that the American public has limited patience for further military action.

The report said Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan are conveying messages from the U.S. to Iran through diplomatic channels and their intelligence agencies. “One complicating factor is that these countries’ mediators overlap with the Iranian counterparts they communicate with. Another complicating factor is that many senior Iranian officials have been killed and Iran’s government communications infrastructure has been attacked, making it difficult for the United States to determine which people on the Iranian side to negotiate with and how to contact them.”

The report also cited U.S. and Middle East officials as saying that any decisions on negotiations are made by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ commander-in-chief Ahmad Vahidi. The heads of the intelligence departments in Egypt and Turkey and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff are focusing their mediation efforts on Vahidi and other senior intelligence officers of the Revolutionary Guard. (End)