U.S. president claims major concessions from Tehran, highlights energy-related “prize,” while Iran denies negotiations and markets react to ongoing Middle East tensions.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran has agreed to forgo nuclear weapons, reiterating his belief that the United States has already prevailed in the war.
“It starts with no nuclear weapons. And they’ve agreed to that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to ongoing talks with Iranian officials. “They’re not gonna have enrichment, any of those things.”
Trump also said Iran’s new leadership had given the United States a “very significant prize” related to energy and the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route.
“They gave us a present and the present arrived today, and it was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. was engaging with “the right people” in Iran to reach a deal to end hostilities.
“It wasn’t nuclear, it was oil-and-gas-related, and it was a very nice thing they did,” he added.
According to Trump, special envoy Steve Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are involved in negotiations with Iran.
Tehran, however, denied that any talks are taking place with Washington.
“No negotiations with America have taken place. Fake news is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped,” parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s main indexes were volatile on Tuesday as oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields rose, with investors reacting to the latest developments in the Middle East conflict, now in its fourth week. The fluctuations followed a relief rally the previous day after Trump postponed strikes on Iranian power plants amid ongoing discussions.
Trump insisted that the United States remains in “about the best bargaining position” in the talks, stating that Iran no longer has a Navy or Air Force and that “most of their missiles are gone.”
He also praised support from allies in the U.S.-Israel military campaign, specifically naming Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
A day earlier, the president announced that he had ordered a five-day delay on any military strikes against Iranian power plants, just hours ahead of a deadline that had threatened further escalation.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the United States and Iran had held “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE” discussions over the previous two days regarding a “COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”
