09.03.2026, Moscow.
Claims about contacts between the intelligence services of Iran and the United States may be disinformation, since victory is a matter of survival for the authorities of both countries, political scientist and Americanist Rafael Ordukhanyan stated on March 7 in a conversation with Rossa Primavera News Agency‘s correspondent.
According to the political scientist, no forces in the United States are currently interested in a peaceful settlement with Iran, and any rumors about contacts or negotiations are part of intelligence games.
“During such military actions, such deliberate or unintentional rumors, real leaks are inevitable. We understand perfectly well that this is part of any intelligence game. We understand that they will appear in one form or another and be denied, as happened with rumors regarding Spain and the UK. So this is football played by the intelligence community. We should give them their due. This is their game. They have to work with it,” Ordukhanyan noted.
In his opinion, in the long run the United States would only be satisfied with Iran’s capitulation. “Therefore, any talk that supposedly someone is calling them or trying to meet them is a matter of survival, not a matter of who won. If there is no capitulation, the Trump administration will simply become a lame duck, all of them together,” the expert explained.
He added that the Iranian authorities are in an even more difficult situation and will not agree to negotiations. “If Iran surrenders, so to speak, if it blinks now, then we can imagine what will happen: Iran will simply be torn apart into Kurdistan, Balochistan, Azerbaijan, and nothing will remain of it,” the political scientist said.
Ordukhanyan emphasized that the issue will for now be decided exclusively on the battlefield, and prospects for a settlement may arise only if “the money and missiles run out,” after which other players may enter the process.
On March 7 new exchanges of missile and drone strikes between Iran and Israel took place. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the country’s temporary governing council had decided to suspend strikes against neighboring Middle Eastern states, except in cases where attacks against Iran originate from their territory. He also apologized to neighboring countries that had suffered from Iran’s actions.
Earlier, Iran had carried out strikes against the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia — countries hosting US military bases.
On March 2 the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani stated that Tehran would not enter negotiations with the United States. The statement came after The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming that Larijani had attempted to resume dialogue with Washington through Oman. On March 6, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi confirmed that Iran was not negotiating with the United States and described the attack during preparations for talks on the nuclear program as a betrayal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 6 that Washington is not negotiating with Tehran so as not to undermine the achievement of current military objectives. On the same day, US President Donald Trump stated that he expects nothing less than Iran’s complete capitulation.
