The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot is reporting that the Obama administration has been conducting one-on-one talks with its Iranian counterparts. Negotiations, according to the report, have been held in Bahrain and have been led by Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett.

The story is curious on a number of levels. It seems unlikely that if such talks existed they would take place in Bahrain. The Sunni government of the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom has long accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of trying to incite the country’s Shia majority. The regime’s anxiety doubled with the onset of the Arab uprisings, which brought large, and often violent, protests, to the streets of Manama and the regime responded with brutal repressive measures. While urging Bahrain to open its political system, the Obama administration has stood by its Gulf ally, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet.