Even as Trump touts ‘reasonable’ Iranian negotiators, there’s uncertainty about their decision-making power | CNN Politics

As President Donald Trump’s envoys gear up for another go at diplomacy with Iran, a major question hovers over their efforts: do the officials they’re communicating with have the juice to make a deal? It’s not entirely clear to American officials whether the regime figures receiving their messages — which have been passed along by Pakistan and Turkey — have the ultimate authority to sign-off on any peace agreement, let alone implement one, US and Gulf officials said. So far, Trump appears willing to test the relative power of his new Iranian interlocutors, who no one in the administration is willing to identify publicly. Even as Tehran has called the US’ 15-point proposal to end the war “unrealistic” and as Trump amasses troops in the region, the president says talks are going well and has cast new negotiators as “more reasonable.” Still, it remains unclear whether this indirect back-and-forth, which could eventually produce in-person talks, will spur Iran to make concessions it was unwilling to make before the war. Some in the Iranian regime are distrustful of the US after earlier rounds of diplomacy were scuttled by American attacks, according to one source fa