As US officials were busy assessing Iran’s missile attacks in Iraq late Tuesday, messages began arriving from Iran saying one thing: We’re done.
There were “multiple messages and they were all the same,” a person familiar with the matter said. Iran wanted to convey their retaliatory action had ended — and was waiting to see how the US would respond.
Iran initiated contact through at least three back channels starting late Tuesday, including through Switzerland and other countries.
The back-and-forth communication came as American officials were still determining the extent of the Iranian attacks, and were formulating plans for a response.
In response, the US sought to communicate to Iran that its proxies in the region were of equal concern as the activities of the Iranian state, the person familiar said.
The National Security Council didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This story is breaking and will be updated.