Iran’s government on Monday firmly dismissed President Trump’s assertion that fresh negotiations were set to begin later in the day, insisting that no talks with the United States were underway and none had been scheduled.
Trump, 80, told reporters while traveling back to Washington on Sunday night that he had scrapped a planned “massive attack” on Iran after appeals from US partners in the region, naming Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar among them.
“They thought that a deal is imminent,” the president said. He later added, “Now what we’re doing is talking to them [Iran], in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.”
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But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei pushed back Monday, saying Tehran saw no prospect of negotiations with Washington and had no plans in the coming days either to receive foreign delegations or dispatch its own negotiators abroad.
Baghaei said the only diplomatic discussions currently taking place involved Oman and focused on managing the Strait of Hormuz, whose potential closure has shaken global energy markets since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.
A senior Iranian source also told Reuters that no talks were planned, noting that Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, who is currently on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq, would not be available until at least the end of the week.
