Senior Iranian officials — including Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament, who is reportedly leading Tehran's side of the engagement — on Monday said they are not in talks with Trump's administration.
"Trump backed down from attacking critical infrastructure as Iran's military threats became credible. Financial market pressure and the threat of bonds within the U.S. and the West have increased, and this has been another important factor in this retreat," a senior Iranian security official told Iran's Fars News Agency in translated remarks.
Trump, meanwhile, in a Monday morning Truth Social post wrote in all-caps that the U.S. and Iran "over the last two days" have had "conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
"Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed and constructive conversations," which he said would carry on "throughout the week," the president has "instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period," he wrote. Trump noted this was "subject" to the talks.
The senior Iranian official said Tehran will continue to defend itself until "we achieve the necessary deterrence."
"There has not been and is not any negotiation underway, and with this type of psychological warfare, neither will the Strait of Hormuz return to its pre-war conditions, nor will there be peace in the energy markets," the official added.
The president responded to Iran's claims later on Monday while aboard Air Force One.
"They have to get themselves better on public relations people. We have had very, very strong talks. We'll see where they lead. We have points of major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement. Perhaps that hasn't been conveyed. The communication, as you know, has been blown to pieces. They're unable to talk to each other, but we've had very strong talks," he told reporters.
"They want very much to make a deal. We'd like to make a deal too. We're going to get together today by probably phone, because it's very hard to find a country. It's very hard for them to get out, I guess," he continued.
The saga comes as Trump has struggled to articulate the direction of the Iran war, frequently contradicting himself as to the length, goals and span of the conflict since it began on Feb. 28.
Last week he said he was considering winding down the war, even as his administration is sending more troops to the Middle East.
Read full report at TheHill.com.
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