WASHINGTON: Operatives from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence signalled openness to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to talks on ending the war, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing officials briefed on the matter.
The offer was made through an unnamed country’s spy agency, the NYT said, citing Middle Eastern officials and officials from a Western nation who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A source from the Iranian intelligence ministry rejected the report as “absolute lies and psychological warfare in the midst of war”, Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.
The White House and the CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Officials in Washington are sceptical as to whether Iran or the Trump administration is really ready for an “off-ramp”, at least in the short term, the report added.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday ruled out for now any negotiations with the United States, days after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on his country.President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Tehran wanted to talk but it was too late, as the United States continued its military operation against Iran.
Meanwhile, Spain has agreed to “cooperate” with the US military in its war on Iran, the White House said on Wednesday, after Madrid had refused to let American warplanes use its bases for the operation.
“It´s my understanding, over the past several hours, they´ve agreed to cooperate with the US military,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Spain, without providing details on what the cooperation would entail.
Spain´s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had already angered US President Donald Trump with a series of other policies.
Sanchez has refused to join Nato allies in a pledge to boost defence spending to five percent of GDP as demanded by Trump, and has fiercely criticised Israel´s war in Gaza.
Trump lashed out at Sanchez´s government on Tuesday, calling Spain a “terrible” ally and threatening to sever all trade with Spain.
Sanchez, one of a dwindling number of leftist leaders in Europe, defended his position on Wednesday, saying his government´s position “can be summed up in four words: no to the war”.“We will not be complicit in something that is harmful to the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliation,” he added in a televised address.Spain is a member of the European Union, which allows goods to move freely between the 27 countries in the bloc. This would complicate any bid to impose trade restrictions on a single member state.
“Trump´s words don´t always become policy. We will have to see if he follows through, and how,” said Angel Saz Carranza, director of the Esade Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, a Spanish think tank.
