On a Florida tarmac, a president told the press that a new Iranian leadership was already taking shape, though he would not say who it was, and in doing so placed a fragile possibility beside a hard denial from Tehran. It is the familiar shape of wartime diplomacy: a claim of contact that cannot yet be verified, offered under the shadow of threatened destruction and against the pressure of rising fuel prices. Whether the silence of the unnamed negotiator becomes a dialogue or remains a rhetorical gesture will depend on a five-day clock that both sides are measuring in very different terms.
Trump Claims 'Regime Change' Under Way in Iran as Unnamed Negotiators Reach Out; Tehran Denies Talks
Iran has lost much of its leadership to US and Israeli bombing, and the war's broader toll on civilians is not detailed in the source.
"They called, I didn't call," Trump said of an unnamed Iranian negotiator.
Mark
Trump says regime change is under way. What exactly did he announce?
Mimi
That the US is talking with an unnamed Iranian figure he calls "the leader," not Mojtaba Khamenei. He says they reached out first, after he threatened the power stations.
Mark
And he gave five days?
Mimi
Yes, announced on Truth Social. If talks fail, he says the bombing continues.
Luke
Worth being clear about what we actually have here. The talks, the "major points of agreement," the identity of the negotiator: all of that rests on Trump's word alone. No one else has confirmed any of it.
Mark
Iran says otherwise?
Mimi
Mehr, citing the foreign ministry, says there are no talks and that the claims are meant to lower energy prices.
Luke
That's also an assertion, from a government with its own reasons. Neither side has put evidence on the table. We don't know who, if anyone, called whom.
Mark
Why won't Trump name them?
Mimi
He says he doesn't want them killed. It fits a war where much of Iran's leadership has already been lost.
Luke
It also makes the claim impossible to check. That's not proof of anything either way, but it means the reader can't verify it.
Mark
What does the Venezuela remark tell us?
Mimi
He pointed to Maduro's removal in January and a US-backed figure now running the country, and said maybe Iran gets someone like that.
Luke
That's a stated preference, not a described plan. And oil is the pressure point: markets fell, pump prices are up, and midterms are in November.
El Pulso
- Trump announces that regime change is underway in Iran while refusing to name the alternative leader he says the US is contacting.
- Iran's foreign ministry flatly denies any talks with Washington, dismissing the claims as an effort to push energy prices down.
- A five-day window for talks hangs over the region, with Trump promising to keep bombing if negotiations fail.
- Oil prices and approaching November midterms press on the White House, shaping how far Trump is willing to pull back from strikes.
On a Florida tarmac, a president told the press that a new Iranian leadership was already taking shape, though he would not say who it was, and in doing so placed a fragile possibility beside a hard denial from Tehran. It is the familiar shape of wartime diplomacy: a claim of contact that cannot yet be verified, offered under the shadow of threatened destruction and against the pressure of rising fuel prices. Whether the silence of the unnamed negotiator becomes a dialogue or remains a rhetorical gesture will depend on a five-day clock that both sides are measuring in very different terms.
Standing in Florida before boarding his plane on Monday, President Donald Trump told reporters that regime change was already under way in Iran and that the United States was in contact with an alternative leader. He would not say who. He described the figure only as "not the supreme leader" Mojtaba Khamenei, and as a person he called the most respected leader available.
The announcement followed Trump's retreat from a threat to bomb Iran's power stations within a day. Tehran had warned that such an escalation would bring reprisals against sensitive regional targets. Trump instead granted five days for talks, saying that if they failed, the bombing would simply resume. He claimed Iranian officials had reached out under the threat, that "major points of agreement" existed, and that his conditions were no nuclear ambitions and surrender of enriched uranium stockpiles.
Tehran's account stands in sharp contrast. Iranian media reported that no negotiations were under way, and the foreign ministry, through the Mehr news agency, said there were no talks with Washington at all, framing Trump's statements as an attempt to lower energy prices. Markets, which had suffered sharp selloffs, give that suspicion some weight, as rising oil costs weigh on American voters ahead of November's midterms.
The war has already cost Iran much of its leadership, and Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since it began. Trump argued that Venezuela, where a US-backed figure replaced Nicolás Maduro in January, offered a model. For now, the five-day window is the only clear marker, and it will show either a named interlocutor or a denial that stands, with renewed bombing waiting behind it.
Standing in Florida before boarding his plane on Monday, President Donald Trump told reporters that "regime change" was already under way in Iran, and that the United States was in contact with an alternative leader there. He did not say who. He said only that it was "not the supreme leader," Mojtaba Khamenei, and described the person as "a top person" and "the most respected and the leader."
The announcement came shortly after Trump backed down from a threat to bombard Iran's power stations within the next day. Iran had vowed that such an escalation would be met with reprisals against sensitive regional targets, a move that would have further shaken the US and world economies. On his Truth Social site, Trump said he was allowing five days for talks. If they fail, he told reporters later, "we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out."
Trump said the talks were already producing "major points of agreement." His conditions, as he laid them out, are that Iran abandon any nuclear ambitions and give up its stockpiles of enriched uranium. "We want no enrichment, but we also want the enriched uranium," he said. He claimed the Iranian side reached out because of his threat to hit the power stations. "They called, I didn't call," he said. "They want to make a deal, and we are very willing to make a deal." He expected to speak with them that day, probably by phone, because it is "very hard for them to get out, I guess."
The backdrop is a war that has cost Iran a swath of its leadership to US and Israeli bombing. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the previous supreme leader, has not been seen in public since the war began, and US officials say he may be badly injured. Trump has said repeatedly that he does not know whom to negotiate with because so many leaders have been killed. On Monday he dismissed Khamenei outright: "I don't consider him really the leader." He added that the US believes it has found people "very representative of the country" who "will do a good job."
Asked why he would not name them, Trump said it was "because I don't want them to be killed." He pointed to Venezuela as a possible model. US forces toppled longtime strongman Nicolas Maduro there in January, and the country is now run by a US-backed figure. "Look at Venezuela, how well that's working out," Trump said. "Maybe we find somebody like that in Iran." In a brief phone interview with AFP earlier in the day, he had said "things are going very well."
Tehran's account is flatly different. Iranian media reported Monday that no negotiations toward ending the war are under way. Mehr news agency, citing Iran's foreign ministry, said: "There are no talks between Tehran and Washington." It characterized Trump's statements as part of an effort "to reduce energy prices."
Markets give that framing some context. Trump's retreat on the energy sites came just hours before Wall Street was due to open, after sharp selloffs in European and Asian markets and a further rise in oil prices. The cost of oil has become a growing political problem for him as Americans complain about higher prices at the pump, with midterm elections in November set to decide the makeup of Congress.
What to watch now is the five-day window. Either a named interlocutor emerges, or Tehran's denial stands and Trump's threat to resume bombing comes back into play.
Citas Notables
We want no enrichment, but we also want the enriched uranium.— President Donald Trump
There are no talks between Tehran and Washington.— Mehr news agency, citing Iran's foreign ministry
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