🔻U.S. Ambassador to Turkey: Iran and the U.S. are close to an agreement

Tom Barak, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy of Donald Trump on Syria and Iraq, says Washington and Tehran are very close to reaching an agreement to reduce military tensions.

In remarks Thursday in an interview with CNN in Doha, Barak expressed hope that within the next two weeks, important steps will be taken to reduce tensions and halt military clashes.

Barak said: “We have come very close; very close to the point where we can say, let’s create a pause and reduce the intensity of the tensions.”

Referring to Qatar, Pakistan, and other U.S. allies’ diplomatic efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington, Barak said these countries have played an important role in bringing the parties closer to an agreement over a political process.

He emphasized that an immediate comprehensive agreement is not possible, but that by creating a pause in hostilities, it is possible to pave the way for further negotiations and the formation of new regional arrangements.

According to him, the current goal is for the parties first to reduce the intensity of tensions and then give the opportunity for regional countries to try, at their own pace and under their own conditions, to find more sustainable solutions.

Barak also said that the use of military force is an issue that the president and other U.S. government officials take very seriously, but that what is currently underway is an effort to make all possible options available in order to prevent such an operation from taking place.