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Trump Considers Ex-Intelligence Chief Richard Grenell for Iran Envoy, Sources Say
Richard Grenell, a top adviser to Donald Trump and former acting US director of national intelligence, speaks to the attendees of a Muslims and Bangladeshi Americans for Trump outreach event in Hamtramck, Michigan, US, Nov. 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
US President-elect Donald Trump is now considering tapping Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, to be a special envoy for Iran, according to two people familiar with the transition plans.
“He’s definitely in the running,” said a person familiar with transition deliberations, who asked not to be identified.
No final decisions on either personnel or strategy on Iran have been made official yet by Trump, including whether to slap fresh sanctions on the country, pursue diplomacy, or both in order to halt their nuclear program.
Trump‘s plans for the role have not previously been reported. Neither Trump‘s team nor Grenell responded to requests for comment.
“Richard Grenell is a fabulous person, A STAR. He will be someplace, high up!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform late Wednesday following the Reuters report.
Grenell, in a separate post on X, called the report “wrong” but gave no other details.
Still, Trump‘s consideration of a key ally for such a posting sends a signal to the region that the new US president may be open to talks with a country he has previously threatened and whose elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have sought to assassinate him, according to the US government. Iran has denied the claim.
In the role, Grenell is expected to be tasked with speaking with countries in and beyond the region about the Iran issue as well as taking Tehran’s temperature on possible negotiations, said one of the people.
Iran‘s President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is viewed as relatively moderate, said following Trump‘s election that Tehran must “deal with the US” and “manage” relations with its arch-foe.
Iran has suffered a series of strategic setbacks, including Israel’s assault on Tehran’s terrorist proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the ouster of Iranian ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
But tensions remain high more than a year after Hamas attacked southern Israel, launching the Gaza war. Meanwhile, other Iranian proxies have attacked US, Israeli, and other Western targets, and Tehran has accelerated its nuclear program while limiting the UN nuclear watchdog’s ability to monitor it.
It’s not the first job Trump has considered for Grenell, who served as Trump‘s ambassador to Germany, a special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump‘s 2017-2021 term.
After campaigning for Trump in the lead up to the Nov. 5 election, he was a top contender to be secretary of state and for special envoy for the Ukraine war. Those jobs went to US Senator Marco Rubio and retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, respectively. Trump takes office next month.
During his first term in office, in 2020, Trump ordered a US air strike that killed Iran‘s top military commander, Qassem Soleimani.
Trump in 2018 also reneged on a nuclear deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 and re-imposed U. economic sanctions on Iran that had been relaxed. The deal had limited Iran‘s ability to enrich uranium, a process that can yield fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Iran now is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent level that is weapons grade, the UN nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters last week. Iran says its nuclear program only serves peaceful purposes.
The post Trump Considers Ex-Intelligence Chief Richard Grenell for Iran Envoy, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.