The Situation Room - April 1st

Good morning everyone,

I’m Atlas, and welcome to The Situation Room! We cover the most high impact geopolitical developments every Wednesday! No jokes for today!

Today’s topics:

• Iranian President Signals Willingness To End War

• Trump Signs Executive Order Regarding Mail In Ballots

• Japan Deploys Long Range Missiles For First Time In Its History

Iranian President Signals Willingness To End War

_{By: Atlas}

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the head of the European Council on Tuesday that Tehran has the "necessary will" to end the war with the United States and Israel — the most explicit statement from a senior Iranian official since the conflict began on February 28 that the country is looking for a way out.

The statement moved markets. U.S. stocks rose on the news. But the conditions attached to it suggest the gap between what Iran wants and what Washington is offering remains wide.

"We possess the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met — especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression," Pezeshkian said during a phone call with European Council President António Costa, according to his office.

The key word is guarantees. Iran has been attacked twice during diplomatic engagements with the United States — most recently the February 28 strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while American envoys were in contact with Tehran. Pezeshkian cited that history directly. "Iran was attacked twice during negotiations, proving that America does not believe in diplomacy," he said.

Costa responded by urging Iran to de-escalate. "The current situation in the Middle East is extremely dangerous," he wrote on social media afterward. He called on Iran to stop attacking countries in the region and to engage with the United Nations on restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Diplomatic Back Channel

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi provided more detail on the state of contacts with Washington in an interview Tuesday. He confirmed that he is receiving messages directly from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, either through intermediaries or direct communication. But he drew a firm line between exchanging messages and negotiating.

"I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations," Araghchi said. "There is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran."

He said Iran has "never had a good experience" negotiating with the United States, pointing to the 2015 nuclear deal — the JCPOA — which Trump withdrew from during his first term. "We do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero."

Araghchi also clarified that Iran has not formally responded to the 15-point ceasefire proposal Washington sent through Pakistani intermediaries last week. "Nor have we submitted any proposals or conditions," he said. Iranian state media had reported earlier that Tehran had issued a five-point counterproposal, but Araghchi appeared to walk that back.

On the Strait of Hormuz, Araghchi said the waterway lies within Iranian and Omani territorial waters and that Iran was within its rights to close it to hostile nations during wartime. He said after the war, the strait's future security would be a matter for Iran and Oman to decide, but suggested it could again become "a peaceful waterway."

Washington Says Talks Are Real

The White House has maintained for days that negotiations with Iran are progressing, regardless of Tehran's public denials. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that talks are "continuing and going well" and that what Iran says publicly differs sharply from what it communicates privately.

"Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well," Leavitt told reporters. "What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what's being communicated to us privately."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reinforced that message Tuesday but paired it with a warning. Speaking at a Pentagon briefing, he described the negotiations as "very real" and "gaining strength," then added: "The upcoming days will be decisive. Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it."

Asked whether ground troops could be deployed, Hegseth declined to rule it out. "You can't fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do, or what you are not willing to do, to include boots on the ground," he said.

Trump himself weighed in Tuesday with a phone interview in which he said Iran's military capacity had been "largely weakened" and that the conflict would be short-lived. "We won't stay there very long," he said. He suggested the Strait of Hormuz would "automatically reopen" and placed the burden on countries dependent on the waterway to secure their own access.

In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump lashed out at allies who have refused to help the U.S. force the strait open. "You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us," he wrote. "Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil."

Threats From Both Sides Continue

Even as both governments signaled openness to ending the war, the fighting showed no signs of stopping. Heavy strikes hit Iran on Tuesday, including in Isfahan and Tehran, where residents reported explosions and power outages. Iranian state media said airstrikes had damaged a pharmaceutical plant producing cancer drugs and anesthetics and a Shiite religious center in Zanjan. Iran's government said U.S.-Israeli attacks had hit more than 105,000 civilian sites across the country, including over 83,000 residential units.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps issued one of its most provocative warnings yet, threatening to retaliate against 18 major American technology companies — including Google, Meta, Apple, Intel, Tesla, and Palantir — if further Iranian leaders are killed in targeted assassinations. The IRGC said the firms were "complicit" in previous killings and warned they "should expect the destruction of their relevant units in exchange for every assassination in Iran."

Trump had warned Monday that if Iran did not agree to a deal, U.S. forces would "obliterate" all of its oil wells, its main Kharg Island export terminal, and possibly its water desalination plants.

Iran continued firing missiles and drones at Israel, Gulf Arab states, and U.S.-allied positions in the region. Explosions were heard Tuesday in Dubai. Two people were wounded near the Saudi capital Riyadh when air defenses intercepted a drone. Kuwait's state oil company reported that one of its tankers caught fire off Dubai after what it called "a direct and malicious Iranian attack."

The Economic Toll Keeps Climbing

The war's economic damage is now registering globally. The average U.S. gasoline price passed $4 a gallon on Tuesday, the highest since 2022. Indonesia announced fuel rationing. The EU urged member states to reduce domestic consumption of oil, diesel, and jet fuel. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said in Brussels: "The more you can do to save oil, especially diesel, especially jet fuel, the better we are off."

The UN Development Programme estimated this week that one month of war has cost Arab countries up to $194 billion. Even a "short but intense" conflict, the agency warned, would produce major increases in poverty rates across the region, particularly in Sudan, Yemen, and Lebanon.

Iran's own government spokesperson said 249 women and 216 children have been killed in the strikes, all civilians, including 17 children under the age of five. Iran's total death toll has surpassed 1,340. At least 13 U.S. service members and 16 Israelis have been killed. More than 1,200 have died in Lebanon.

Pezeshkian framed Iran's position as one of both strength and openness. "The resistance shown by the army, along with the national unity shown by the Iranian people during the war, are among the most important factors that helped the country overcome the current critical circumstances," he said during a cabinet meeting Monday.

Whether the "necessary will" he described Tuesday translates into formal negotiations depends on whether Washington offers the kind of guarantees Tehran says it requires — and whether Trump, who started this war during a round of diplomacy, is willing to bind himself to terms that would prevent the next one. For now, both sides are talking about talking while the bombs keep falling.

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