Iran has denied Donald Trump’s claim that new talks aimed at ending the conflict would begin on Monday, after the US president called off what he described as “massive” strikes against the country.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said Iran “knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming”, adding: “We’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.”
However, Iran denies Trump talks claim, with the country’s foreign ministry rejecting the US president’s assertion that negotiations between Tehran and Washington were underway or scheduled to begin.
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In an earlier post on Truth Social, Trump said he had been asked by Iran and US allies in the Middle East to “hold off” on military action, claiming that the “perimeters” of a deal had already been agreed.
But on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was not negotiating with the United States and that there were no plans for such talks.
Baghaei said Iran was instead negotiating with Oman to reach “an understanding over a path to ensure the security of shipping passage through the Strait of Hormuz”.
Previous US-Iran talks have been facilitated by mediators as efforts continue to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that a negotiated end to the war is close, only for tit-for-tat military strikes to resume.
During his remarks aboard Air Force One, Trump declined to set a deadline for reaching a deal with Tehran.
“We’ll just see how it is. We’re ready to go anytime we want… I’m not looking to kill people,” the US president said.
Trump did not specify where the proposed talks on Monday would take place or identify who would participate.
He added that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, along with US partners including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, had urged him not to proceed with the planned strikes over the weekend.
“We were all set to go,” Trump said. “The reason they asked is [that] they think there’s a deal. There’s a deal on Hormuz, and there will be a deal on the nuclear.”
The latest developments surrounding the US-Iran conflict also affected global oil markets, with oil prices falling in Asian trading on Monday following Trump’s announcement.
Brent crude oil was down by 4.5% at $83.98 (£62.26), while US-traded oil fell by 4.6% to $80.74 (£59.85).
Energy prices have fluctuated since the conflict began on 28 February, as traders reacted to disruptions affecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route.
Around 20% of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) normally passes through the strategic waterway.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency also denied that Tehran had asked the US president to suspend further military action, describing Trump’s claims as “nothing but a new lie”.
During his comments aboard Air Force One, Trump said the planned US strikes on Iran would have been “the biggest attack since World War Two” and could have undermined efforts to reach a negotiated settlement to the months-long conflict.
Trump declined to say whether the planned military operation would have targeted Iranian energy infrastructure. International law experts have previously warned that attacks on certain civilian energy facilities could potentially constitute war crimes.
Iran’s acting Defence Minister Majid Ibn al-Reza earlier said Tehran considered every threat from its adversaries to be “real and credible”, even when such threats were part of psychological warfare.
“We will neither be caught off guard nor remain passive,” he said.
The US president has previously issued severe warnings to Tehran before later insisting that diplomacy should be given an opportunity to succeed.
In a post on Saturday, Trump said the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II”.
However, he said cancelling the planned attack would be “for the future benefit of the world and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran”.
On 7 April, Trump warned that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran refused to enter peace talks. At the time, he also threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure and power plants.
That warning eventually contributed to historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan, led by US Vice-President JD Vance. However, those negotiations failed to produce a deal.
The Trump administration has also largely dismissed polling data showing that the war and its economic consequences are unpopular among Americans, including a significant number of Republicans.
Polls indicating widespread dissatisfaction with the handling of the US-Iran conflict have raised concerns among some conservative strategists ahead of the November midterm elections.
For now, the conflicting statements from Washington and Tehran have left uncertainty over whether genuine diplomatic negotiations will take place, while tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, military action and Iran’s nuclear programme remain high.
BBC