US bombs Iran's nuclear sites: Was failure to reach Khamenei the key factor in collapse of America-Iran talks?

US President Donald Trump held backchannel talks for dialogue with Iran, according to a report, which added that the plan, however, did not materialise as Iranian officials failed to get approval of their country's Supreme Leader who is in hiding due to fears of assassination.

Also Read: Which nuclear sites did US strike in Iran? Why it matters

As per the Axios report, Turkey had contacted the United States offering to host the talks between senior American and Iranian officials amid the war between Iran and US ally Israel.

Turkey's efforts began with a June 16 phone call by its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Trump while the latter was in Canada for the G7 Summit.

Also Read: Trump abruptly leaves G-7 amid speculation US will bust Iranian bomb-making facility with bunker-buster

"Erdogan proposed to host a meeting in Istanbul the next day between American and Iranian officials to explore a diplomatic solution to the war," people with direct knowledge of the developments told the website.

"Trump agreed and told Erdogan he was willing to send vice president JD Vance and White House's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. He even agreed to travel himself to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian — if that's what was necessary to get a deal," they added.

A White House official also confirmed that in the hours before the Trump-Erdogan call, the US president had received "signals" from the Iranians through other backchannels that they wanted to meet.

Meanwhile, Erdogan and his foreign minister Hakan Fidan conveyed the offer to their respective Iranian counterparts -Pezeshkian and Abbas Araghchi. The latter duo tried to communicate with Khamenei but failed to contact him.

Iran subsequently informed Turkey that Tehran could not communicate the proposal to Khamenei. Turkey then told the US that the meeting was off.