President Donald Trump accused Iran’s leadership Monday of deceiving the United States about negotiations, saying Tehran privately sought talks while publicly denying they were taking place, as he warned that time was running out for the Islamic Republic to reach an agreement. President Trump’s remarks followed Iranian statements that no negotiations with Washington were underway, contradicting his assertion that discussions were in progress over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and later addressing Iran’s nuclear program.
Speaking on Truth Social, President Trump wrote: “Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’”
Iran’s state media had earlier denied that talks with the United States were taking place. Tehran said it was instead discussing a temporary safe shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman.
“We currently do not have negotiations with America,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters, adding that Iran had no plans in the coming days to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad.
Hours later, President Trump reiterated that contacts were continuing, telling reporters at the White House that negotiations were taking place despite Iran’s public denials.
“They’re going on right now. It’s an amazing thing we have 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,” President Trump said. “But they’re not denying it now. They just put out a statement, not denying it.”
President Trump also said he expected the Strait of Hormuz to reopen to maritime traffic on Tuesday, describing that as the first stage of the negotiations.
“We’re talking about the strait, the opening of the strait, having it open literally by tomorrow, completely open, and that’s phase one,” he said, adding that a second phase would address Iran’s nuclear program.
Calling the negotiations Iran’s “last chance,” President Trump said, “This is a last chance for them to sign a good document,” adding, “I want to give them every last chance before decapitation.”
On Sunday, President Trump said he had canceled what he described as a massive US military operation against Iran after concluding there were the “perimeters of a deal” to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. He later said the postponed attack could still be launched “anytime we want,” while also saying Iran faced no deadline to reach an agreement.
