Diplomacy, dialogue only way forward for Iran? Here's what to expect next after Israel-Iran ceasefire

After the 12-day war over Tehran's possession of nuclear weapons came to an end between Israel and Iran in a US-initiated mediation, everyone is looking towards the Middle East and the situations that could prevail in the near future in the region. The ceasefire raises the possibility of renewed talks with Tehran over its nuclear program.

Trump's West Asia envoy, Steve Witkoff, while speaking to Fox News channel after the ceasefire was called between both the countries said, "Now it’s time for us to sit down with the Iranians and get to a comprehensive peace agreement."

While a preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency has said that the extent of the damage from 11 days of Israeli attacks and the weekend strikes by U.S. bunker-buster bombs does not indicate severe damage to the nuclear sites - Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan - and that the nuclear program had been set back only a few months.

Trump has however maintained that the US strikes “completely and fully obliterated” the nuclear facilities. Speaking to the media on Wednesday (June 25), Trump said, “The US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites were a perfect operation. The intelligence was very inconclusive."

“It was very severe. There was obliteration," he added.

Restarting US-Iran nuclear talks possible?

After the 12-day war, there is no clarity on what happens with negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program as the Iranian leadership at the moment is in disarray and it is not entirely clear who in Iran has the authority to make a deal or even agree to reenter talks.

Ray Takeyh, a former State Department official and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations speaking to the Associated Press said, "The country’s leadership and the regime is not cohesive enough to be able to come to some sort of negotiations at this point, especially negotiations from the American perspective, whose conclusion is predetermined, namely, zero enrichment."

“Is there an Iranian negotiation team empowered to make consequential decisions. The issue is that (Trump) is dealing with an Iranian government whose longtime identity has been based on hostility toward the the United States," added Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, while speaking at the U.N. on Tuesday said, “diplomacy and dialogue are the only path to resolving the unnecessary crisis over Iran’s peaceful program.”