Iran’s President Says No Decision Yet on Direct Talks With US

The signal here is procedural rather than diplomatic: Tehran is conditioning any direct channel on a prior shift in US posture, which effectively places the burden of de-escalation on Washington before talks can even be considered. That sequencing matters for markets that price Middle East risk premia, since it suggests no near-term breakthrough and no quick unwind of the sanctions architecture. Whether the trust-building language translates into any concrete confidence-building step, or remains a rhetorical precondition, is the open question worth tracking.