The Iranian government flat-out rejected President Trump’s claim that new negotiations were due to get underway later Monday, with officials stating that no talks were taking place or scheduled.
Trump, 80, told reporters en route to Washington Sunday night that he had called off a planned “massive attack” on Iran at the request of US partners in the region — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
“They thought that a deal is imminent,” said the president, later adding: “Now what we’re doing is talking to them [Iran], in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.”
President Trump speaks at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, on July 22, 2026. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei speaks in Tehran on June 27, 2026. Xinhua/Shutterstock Irans’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in an undated photo. ISNA/AFP via Getty ImagesIran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei claimed Monday that no negotiations with the US were in prospect and Tehran had no plans to host any foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days.
The only talks under way, Baghaei added, were discussions with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz, the closing of which has roiled global energy markets since the start of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28.
Video footage from CENTCOM shows a strike in an unknown location in Iran. US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP via Getty Images Smoke is seen rising in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, Iran, on July 30, 2026. Social Media via REUTERSA senior Iranian source also told Reuters that no talks were planned and that Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, currently on a religious piligrimage in Iraq, would be unavailable at least until the end of the week
Monday’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.
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remains a central point of contention. Washington says the June memorandum required Iran to open the strategically vital waterway, while Tehran argues the text explicitly preserved its authority over shipping traffic.
That would leave Tehran with greater leverage over the strait than before the war, a result that would be seen as a significant setback for Trump.
So far the United States has failed to compel Iran to relinquish its grip on the waterway, sending global oil prices higher and pushing up politically sensitive gasoline prices in the United States.
Oil prices fell on Monday after Trump’s latest decision to hold back from military action, with Brent crude futures down more than 4% to around $84 a barrel.
In the latest reported incident in the strait, the British maritime security body UKMTO said overnight that the master of a vessel had reported an explosion in the water near the ship. No one was hurt.
With Post wires
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