A sharp contradiction emerged Monday between the White House and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the United States maintaining that negotiations are underway to end the five-month conflict while Iranian officials publicly and categorically denied that any such talks exist.
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, falsely declared that high-level discussions with Tehran would begin Monday afternoon after he decided to call off what he described as the largest planned American attack since World War II.
The president asserted that the framework for a deal had been reached, including the complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, delivered a flat denial at his weekly news briefing in Tehran.
“We are not currently negotiating with the United States,” Baqaei said. “Our negotiations are with Oman to secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The spokesman confirmed that technical discussions with Omani officials were ongoing regarding a potential temporary maritime corridor, but he insisted those contacts did not constitute negotiations with Washington.
He also rejected any suggestion that the status of the strategic waterway had changed. Iran has tightly controlled the strait since the war began on Feb. 28, significantly affecting global energy markets and shipping.
Following Tehran’s public repudiation of his claims, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to accuse Iranian leaders of being “unbelievably duplicitous.” Trump wrote that Tehran had requested meetings—or, as he put it, “begged”—only to disavow them publicly.
He warned that the U.S. naval blockade, which he referred to as the “Wall of Steel,” would remain in place, saying that “nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished.”
Despite the conflicting statements, Trump later told reporters at the White House that talks were “going on right now.”
The president said there was “a little problem” with Iran because “we have many talks, and we’ll say we have or we don’t have. You know, we’re straight about it, but they deny it. But they’re not denying it now. They just put out a statement not denying it.”
Shipping in the Gulf has confirmed the ongoing stand-off, ever since Iran nearly halted transits through the crucial route that handles a fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas shipments, before it was blockaded during the war.
One cargo vessel had been hit by an unknown projectile near the strait off Oman’s coast, said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained sluggish, with three tankers and three bulk carriers among the six vessels passing through on Monday, down from seven the day before.
Three days after ExxonMobil and Chevron reported strong second-quarter earnings driven by higher oil prices amid the war in Iran, Trump criticized the oil companies for making “too much money,” adding, “Based on a shortage, they’re making too much money. I don’t like it. And I should be the last one to say, because I’m a big free enterprise guy. … Chevron. Too much money. ExxonMobil. Too much money.”
Trump—whose cataloged lies exceed those of any previous US president—said he had been asked by Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to hold off on planned strikes, which he claimed would have been “the biggest attack since World War II,” but Iranian officials denied that Tehran asked the Americans not to strike.
Trump also claims that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and denuclearize Tehran is “imminent”
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