After months of military escalation, President Trump declared on Thursday that the United States is approaching the end of its conflict with Iran, revealing that he has been in direct communication with Tehran's leadership — a claim that, if borne out, would mark one of the most consequential diplomatic pivots of his second term. The announcement arrives not into a vacuum but into a region still convulsed by proxy wars, where UN Secretary-General António Guterres simultaneously urged restraint, reminding the world that peace between capitals does not easily silence the guns of those fighting i