Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new mediation efforts in the U.S.-Iran war, plans for ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina to return home, and one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires to date.

Regional mediators pushed U.S. and Iranian officials on Friday to return to the negotiating table after days of escalating strikes threatened to push both countries back into all-out war. But while Washington appears willing to restart talks, the White House insists that the two nations’ cease-fire is dead in the water.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new mediation efforts in the U.S.-Iran war, plans for ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina to return home, and one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires to date.

Regional mediators pushed U.S. and Iranian officials on Friday to return to the negotiating table after days of escalating strikes threatened to push both countries back into all-out war. But while Washington appears willing to restart talks, the White House insists that the two nations’ cease-fire is dead in the water.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump has previously called negotiations with Tehran a “waste of time,” accusing Iranian leaders of being liars and “violent, vicious people.”

Tehran has yet to publicly respond to the United States’ claims.

A Qatari delegation, in coordination with Washington, reportedly flew to Iran on Friday to push the regime to de-escalate its attacks on U.S. military sites and commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, Iranian forces launched strikes on three oil and gas tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting U.S. retaliation. In the ensuing days, both sides have exchanged fire, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar and Washington striking “air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline,” according to U.S. Central Command.

Meanwhile, officials from Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have........

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