A “battered” Iran wants to end the battle and resume talks over its nuclear programmes, a report claimed Monday, citing messages Tehran has sent to Israel and the US via intermediaries.
The Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed Middle Eastern and European officials as saying that Iran was “open to returning to the negotiating table as long as the US doesn’t join the attack”.
“They also passed messages to Israel saying it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained,” per the WSJ.
However, Israel has little incentive to stop. It has achieved full aerial superiority over Iran’s skies, several publications have reported. This is something that still eludes Russia in Ukraine.
Israel first struck with its souped-up fifth-generation stealth F-35s and with most of Iran’s air defences neutered, older warplanes are joining with short-range weapons, per the Journal.
And even before Israel struck, Mossad agents were inside Iran neutralising air defence capabilities with short-range munitions, Reuters reported earlier.
“The Iranians know the US is supporting Israel in its defense, and they are sure the US is supporting Israel logistically,” an Arab official told the WSJ. “But they want guarantees the US won’t join the attacks.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday declared that his military “controls the skies over Tehran” and his country was “on the way” to achieving its goals of destroying the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
The US-Iran talks were stalled after Tehran refused to stop enriching uranium. The talks collapsed after Israel’s attacks last week.
On June 13, 2025, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, in which over 200 Israeli fighter aircraft, including F-35 Adirs, conducted precision strikes against more than 100 nuclear and military targets across Iran, killing Iran’s key military leaders and nuclear scientists.
In response, Tehran has fired 335 missiles, killing 24 Israelis and injuring over 300.