Steve Witkoff

A New York real estate developer and personal friend of Donald Trump since the 1980s, Witkoff had no diplomatic experience before his appointment as US Special Envoy to the Middle East in January 2025. He established early credibility by brokering the January 2025 Gaza Ceasefire and hostage release framework alongside Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Witkoff's twin diplomatic portfolios collided in March 2026. On 4 March he cancelled the Istanbul trilateral with Russia and Ukraine, freezing the only active negotiation track for nearly three weeks. Days later, CNN confirmed neither he nor Jared Kushner had made direct contact with any Iranian official.

The impasse broke on 22 March when Witkoff and Kushner reportedly spoke with Iranian Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf via a Pakistan back-channel. Tehran responded two days later by publicly rejecting both envoys and demanding Vice President JD Vance instead, turning the question of who negotiates into a negotiation of its own.