Speaking to reporters on Monday (23 March) before boarding Air Force One in Florida, President Donald Trump said that the US and Iran have held “very very strong talks” aimed at the resolution of hostilities in the Middle East.
Iran’s parliament speaker denies talks have taken place with the US and says “fake news” is being used to “manipulate” the oil markets. Iran’s foreign ministry also rejected Trump’s claim of negotiations, saying there are no talks between Tehran and Washington
“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
“Over the past few days, messages were received through some friendly countries indicating a US request for negotiations aimed at ending the war,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, according to the official IRNA news agency. However, he “denied any negotiations or talks with the United States during the past 24 days of the imposed war.”
According to Trump, the discussions involved US envoys including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and identified “major points of agreement” between the parties.
“They want very much to make a deal. We’d like to make a deal too,” Trump said.
“And if it goes well, we’re going to end up with uh settling this. Otherwise, we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts down,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, in a Truth Social post, Trump said that he had instructed the US military to postpone planned strikes against Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, citing what he described as “very good and productive conversations” with Iranian counterparts aimed at ending hostilities in the Middle East.
This comes after Trump had issued Iran a 48‑hour ultimatum on Saturday night, demanding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz or warning that the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if the vital waterway remained restricted.
If the talks are genuine and progress continues, a breakthrough would be a relief for the international community, ease pressure on global energy markets, and could help bring an end to a war that has killed over 2,000 people since joint US–Israel strikes began on 28 February.
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