#US-IranTalks Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi admitted messages have been exchanged with the US via intermediaries, but said these constituted "neither dialogue nor negotiation, nor anything of the sort".
Trump claimed on Wednesday that Iran is "afraid" to admit to talks "because they figure they'll be killed by their own people".
So, who to believe? Is peace just around the corner? Or are both sides settling in for a costly, protracted war that will keep energy prices high, affecting the whole world right through the summer?
The signs are that we are now entering into a situation not dissimilar to the logjam over ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Both sides say they want it to finish, but on their terms, which are still far apart from what the other side will accept.
What the US and Israel want
When this war started, on 28 February, there were high hopes in Washington and Jerusalem that the overwhelming military superiority enjoyed by both these two nations over Iran would result in the inevitable collapse of the Islamic Republic