Trump declares negotiations neither ongoing nor scheduled and says the Strait of Hormuz is open, while Iran insists the vital shipping route will remain closed until Washington meets the terms of an interim agreement
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks between the United States and Iran were neither taking place nor scheduled, while asserting that the Strait of Hormuz was open. Iran, however, said the strategic shipping route would remain closed until the United States fulfilled the terms of an interim agreement.
“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The statement came after a 60-day negotiating period between the United States and Iran ended this week without a clear path toward an end to the war.
Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments published by state media on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States met the conditions of an interim deal signed with Iran in June.
On Monday, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and special envoy, struck a more optimistic tone about negotiations, saying discussions were still underway.
“I can’t go into the details of it, but I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all areas is probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been,” Kushner told Fox News.
But visible progress toward peace talks and the resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, threatening to prolong the conflict that the United States and Israel launched with attacks on Iran on February 28.
Asked by reporters on Monday whether the United States was seeking to extend the interim agreement reached in June, Trump said no.
Trump also said Iran would not agree to the deal he believes is necessary to end the war with the United States and should surrender as talks between the two countries remained stalled.
“They’re not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. Look, we’re in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
The interim agreement reached in June called for an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,” but it quickly unraveled. Trump said the agreement was “over” on July 7, while Iran’s foreign ministry declared it “suspended” a week later.
Under the memorandum of understanding, Iran and the United States committed to negotiating a final agreement covering broader issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear program, within a maximum of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent. Monday marked 60 days since the MOU was signed.
Hours earlier, Trump told a Fox News reporter during a phone interview that Iran “should put up the white flag of surrender.”
