Following reports that Iran has been sending urgent messages to Washington and Jerusalem through Arab intermediaries expressing desire to end the conflict with Israel and resume nuclear talks with the United States, US President Donald Trump said Monday that Tehran is seeking to discuss de-escalation and should do so “before it’s too late.”

“I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a G7 summit in Canada.

The comments followed earlier reports on Monday that Iran has been signaling through other Arab states that it wants to end its conflict with Israel and return to the negotiating table. Tehran is reportedly seeking a ceasefire as a condition for reengaging in diplomacy, while Gulf states urge Washington to help de-escalate the crisis.

As Israel and Iran continued to exchange blows following the Israel Defense Forces’ surprise assault on Iranian nuclear and military sites early Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Tehran has been telling Arab officials that it would consider restarting dialogue provided that the US does not join the offensive, citing Middle Eastern and European officials.

Arab officials cited in the report said that Persian Gulf nations — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman — have been urging the US to push Israel to halt the fighting, warning that without a return to negotiations between the warring countries, the conflict could escalate, endangering energy infrastructure across the Gulf and potentially disrupting oil markets and the broader global economy.

Reuters later reported that Tehran had asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Trump to influence Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in return for Tehran’s flexibility in nuclear negotiations, citing two Iranian and three regional sources.

The three states have all appealed to Washington to press Israel to agree to a ceasefire and to resume talks with Tehran toward a nuclear deal, a Gulf source told Reuters. The Gulf States are deeply concerned that the conflict will spin out of control, a Gulf source close to the government said.

A regional source and an official briefed on Iran’s communications with the Gulf said Tehran had reached out to Qatar and Oman to mediate a return to nuclear talks, but insisted that a ceasefire with Israel be put in place first.

Iran made clear to Oman and Qatar that it would not negotiate while it is under attack and will only begin serious negotiations once it has finished responding to Israeli strikes, the official said.

Oman is currently drafting a ceasefire proposal aimed at restarting US–Iran nuclear talks, regional sources told Reuters. A sixth round of the talks, which had already stalled due to Iran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment, was planned for Sunday in Muscat, but was canceled following Israel’s attacks last week.

The draft calls for Iran to suspend nuclear enrichment for one to three years with firm IAEA inspections, allowing future enrichment up to 3.67 percent and participation by an international uranium consortium. An Iranian source said Tehran may accept a one-year suspension and full IAEA access if Israel agrees to a ceasefire.

In return, Iran expects US recognition of its peaceful nuclear rights and the lifting of sanctions. Iran has asked Turkey to appeal to Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to speak with both Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While Arab intermediaries told the WSJ that there is no sign that Iran is prepared to offer new concessions in nuclear negotiations, an Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran is willing to be flexible in the nuclear talks if a ceasefire is reached.

Asked if a diplomatic mechanism was being worked out to end the campaign, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told Army Radio on Monday: “It is a little early for that. You don’t go to war and look to end it three days later.”

Arab diplomats who have met with Iranian officials said Tehran is wagering that Israel won’t be able to sustain a drawn-out conflict and will eventually be forced to pursue a diplomatic resolution, according to the WSJ.

Iranian officials believe that Israel lacks a clear plan for ending the conflict and would need American support to inflict serious damage on fortified sites like the Fordo uranium-enrichment facility, which lies buried beneath a mountain, the report read.

“The Iranians know the US is supporting Israel in its defense, and they are sure the US is supporting Israel logistically,” an Arab official said. “But they want guarantees that the US won’t join the attacks.”

The Arab officials also communicated to Israel that it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained, the WSJ reported, adding that Iran has told Arab officials that, without prospects of renewed talks with the US, Iran could speed up its nuclear program and widen the scope of the conflict.

An Israeli official confirmed to The Times of Israel on Monday that the Iranians have been sending messages through intermediaries to Israel that “if Israel stops attacking, they will stop and they’re ready to go back to the negotiations…But Israel has to stop first.”

The official said Israel’s operation against Iran could take 2-3 weeks, but that the timeframe depends on what the political leadership decides about the scope of the campaign.

“There’s a bank of military targets that we can complete pretty quickly,” the official said. “If they decide to expand it to government symbols, economic targets, all that, then it will take longer.”

A tighter nuclear agreement between Iran and Western powers is the goal, said the official, adding that Israel is aiming to “cause enough damage [to the nuclear program] to revert to diplomacy and get a good agreement.”

Both European and Arab leaders have called for de-escalation and a return to the negotiating table since the start of the conflict. Trump, after months of discouraging Israeli strikes on Iran while nuclear talks were still underway, appeared more permissive in the wake of the attack. On Sunday, he said that while he hopes Israel and Iran can reach a ceasefire, they “may have to fight it out.”

As Israeli jets operate freely over Tehran and Israel sees limited damage from Iranian counterstrikes, there is not much incentive for Israeli leaders to halt their offensive before further dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and undermining the Ayatollah regime, said the WSJ report.

Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel is willing to call off its campaign if Iran accepts US demands to dismantle its nuclear program.

Otherwise, “it’ll end when we remove those capacities, and we will,” he said.