On March 5, Iran denied reports that it had sent a message to the US amid ongoing conflict, and declared that the armed forces had prepared for a prolonged war instead of negotiating.
An unnamed Iranian official told semi-official Tasnim news agency that Tehran has not contacted Washington and has no intention of responding to any approach from the US.
No messages were sent from Iran to the US and there will be no response to US messages," the official affirmed, adding that the Iranian military is ready for a long-term confrontation.
The statement was made after Axios quoted a US official and a well-informed source as saying that Iranian officials had sent messages to the US in recent days but had not received a response. Tehran's response is said to be aimed at refuting the assessment that backstage diplomatic channels are being deployed as fighting in the region intensifies.
According to Axios, the possibility of contact between Washington and Tehran also worries Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have contacted the White House earlier this week after Israeli intelligence assessed that there may have been some form of exchange between President Donald Trump's administration and Iranian officials regarding the possibility of a ceasefire.
The report said that Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu called US officials to ask if any negotiations or message exchanges took place. A source said the White House affirmed that President Donald Trump's administration did not negotiate with Iran behind Israel. A US official also said that contact between Washington and Israeli leaders was maintained regularly throughout the conflict and Israel knew that the US did not talk to Iran.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that individuals related to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry have sought to indirectly contact the CIA through the intelligence agency of a third country to discuss possible conditions to end the conflict.
President Donald Trump rejected the idea of negotiating with Tehran. On the social network Truth Social, he wrote that Iran has lost most of its military capabilities, including air defense, air force, navy and leadership, and said that the negotiation proposal was "too late".
