U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appeared to be playing a larger role as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continued after an April 8 truce.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio said there were signs Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since U.S. airstrikes killed his father and predecessor on the first day of the war, was alive and more engaged in state affairs.
“I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level, although all of his communications have been in writing and through intermediaries,” Rubio said.
Rubio said Iran had agreed to discuss “aspects of their nuclear programme” that it had refused to address as recently as a month ago. He said that included talks on Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, but cautioned that “that is not a guarantee it will ultimately lead to a deal that’s acceptable.”
“There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week,” he added.
Rubio, who also serves as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said the first condition in the talks was that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He said sanctions relief had not been offered in exchange for that step alone.
“That’s not been discussed. That’s not been offered,” Rubio said, adding that sanctions relief would require major concessions on Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium.
Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social that talks had not paused. “Conversations between us have been going on continuously,” he wrote. “Where they lead, one never knows, but as I told Iran, ‘It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal.’”
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, said Tehran was still reviewing the latest U.S. proposal and had not communicated with Washington for several days. The source said Iran was taking a “stern” approach because of what it viewed as U.S. noncompliance with the ceasefire and broader mistrust.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said, according to Reuters, that Iran had halted many nuclear activities previously underway and that any agreement should include strong verification and monitoring.
The war, which began Feb. 28, has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and raised global energy prices after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which had carried about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Iran said ongoing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon remained a major issue in the talks. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran could halt negotiations with Washington if Israel’s “aggression against Lebanon continues.”