Milan, June 21 (LaPresse) – U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan secretly tried to arrange a meeting between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in Istanbul this week, amid the escalating war between Israel and Iran. However, their attempt failed because they were unable to contact or get approval from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who disappeared and went into hiding for fear of being assassinated. This was revealed to Axios by three U.S. officials and a source with direct knowledge of the matter. According to these sources, Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan then forwarded the proposal to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, but they too were unable to reach Khamenei. Turkey consequently had to inform the United States that the meeting was canceled.
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