US President Donald Trump said yesterday that talks with Iran were underway, warning that it was a ‘last chance’ for Tehran to sign a good deal to end the five-month-old war, but Iran denied that any negotiations were being held or planned.
The contradictory statements suggest there is little prospect for a diplomatic resolution to the war anytime soon.
“They are going on right now,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event when asked about the state of negotiations, saying the sides were talking at the request of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, among others.
“This is a last chance for them (Iran) to sign a good document,” he said.
Trump’s comments followed his decision this weekend to call off what he said would be ‘massive attacks’ he had authorised on Iran, saying talks were to be held, repeating a pattern in which he has vowed major strikes only to cancel them.
Earlier in the day, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said no negotiations with the United States were taking place and no meetings were scheduled.
Iran had no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days, he said.
Baghaei added that all Iranian negotiators were currently in the country, apart from Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq.
The only talks under way, he said, were discussions with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian source also told Reuters that no talks were planned and that Araqchi would be unavailable at least until the end of the week.
In a post on Truth Social later, Trump called Iran’s leadership ‘unbelievably duplicitous’, saying they had asked for a meeting and more talks were scheduled for the ‘immediate future’.
He also repeated his assertion that the US Navy had total control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the conflict.
“‘The United States Wall of Steel!’ Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a deal, or total surrender, is accomplished,” he wrote.
Yesterday’s developments appeared to fit a pattern that has emerged since Trump launched ‘Operation Epic Fury’ alongside Israel more than five months ago.
On several occasions, Trump has threatened military action only to later cite diplomatic contacts as a reason for stepping back.
Iran, however, has publicly rejected negotiations with Washington since a June memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict collapsed in early July.
Oil prices fell after Trump’s latest decision to hold back from military action, with Brent crude futures down about five per cent to around $83.52 a barrel.
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