ISTANBUL

Senior officials from the US and Iran are preparing for rare face-to-face talks in Istanbul on Friday as mounting military pressure and regional diplomacy converge to avert a wider conflict, according to US media outlets.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported Monday that the planned meeting would bring together US special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Türkiye hosting and officials from Qatar, Egypt and other regional states expected to participate.

The talks are expected to explore parallel tracks, including Iran’s nuclear program and broader US demands regarding missiles and regional militias, even as both sides remain far apart.

 ‘US strike on Iran would export chaos’

President Trump underscored the stakes as US forces massed in the region, saying Sunday, “We have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there, very close, couple of days… Hopefully, we make a deal.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei struck a defiant note, warning, “The Americans should know if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war.”

Behind the scenes, mediators from Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt, Oman and Iraq have been shuttling messages, while Araghchi and Witkoff have resumed direct contact via text messages, officials told The New York Times.

Iran has signaled readiness to curb or suspend its nuclear activities under certain frameworks and has revisited options from the 2015 nuclear deal, including transferring enriched uranium to Russia, Iranian officials said.

Analysts say the coordinated regional push reflects fears of cascading instability. Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group warned that “a US strike on Iran would export chaos - refugees, militancy, instability - faster than anyone could contain it,” according to the WSJ.