US media: Trump was willing to go to Turkey to negotiate with Iran, but he cancelled it because he could not contact Khamenei

According to the AXIOS website, sources said Trump received a phone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while he was in Canada for the G7 summit last Monday. Erdogan offered to host talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Istanbul the next day to explore a diplomatic solution to the war. Trump agreed and told Erdogan that he was willing to send Vice President Vance and White House envoy Witkov, even if necessary, to Turkey to meet the Iranian president in person. A White House official said that within hours of Erdogan's call, Trump had received "signals" through other secret channels that the Iranians wanted to meet. Mr. Erdogan and his Turkish counterpart then passed the offer on to Iranian President Alexei Pezeshizyan and his Iranian counterpart, Alexei Araghchi. Mr. Pezeshizyan and Mr. Araghchi tried to contact Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for approval, but were unable to reach him because he had gone into hiding to avoid an Israeli assassination. Hours later, the Iranians informed the Turks that they had not received approval. Turkey then told the United States that the talks were canceled. Shortly after, Mr. Trump posted on social media that everyone should leave Tehran immediately! On Saturday, Mr. Erdogan met with his Iranian counterpart, Alexei Araghchi, in Istanbul and urged him to hold direct talks with the Trump administration. Erdogan told Araghchi that Turkey is ready to facilitate such negotiations as soon as possible.