President Donald Trump on Monday insisted that talks between the United States and Iran are ongoing, hours after Tehran said it was not engaged in any direct negotiations with Washington, in the latest sign of confusion over efforts to end the countries’ five-month war.
“At present, we are not having any negotiations with the US,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters Monday, saying Iran’s diplomatic efforts were instead focused on establishing a safe, temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz in talks with Oman. Baghaei said any new route “will in no way return to the status it was before” the war, and that broader U.S.-Iran issues “should be examined in the next stages.”
Trump had said over the weekend that talks with Tehran would resume Monday afternoon after he called off a fresh round of strikes he described as the largest since World War Two, a decision he attributed to appeals from Iran and Gulf allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. On Monday, he branded Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous” for denying the talks were happening after, he said, requesting them.
A regional official involved in the mediation effort told the Associated Press that the proposal under discussion calls for a mutual return to negotiations, a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a halt to regional attacks, including by Iran-aligned militias against Gulf states and Jordan, in exchange for the U.S. lifting its naval blockade and allowing Iran to resume oil exports. The official cautioned no deal had been reached.
Financial markets reacted to the de-escalation, with oil prices falling and stocks rising Monday. Fitch Solutions research unit BMI said in a note that a broader understanding on reopening Hormuz remained achievable this quarter, even as it raised the probability of renewed escalation to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military and diplomatic signals of tension. “Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a statement issued after Trump’s weekend announcement, emphasized “the necessity of prioritizing dialogue” and “exerting all possible efforts to achieve a truce.”
