Trump: ‘Talks with Tehran to begin immediately’, but the Iranian regime denies this

The regime in Tehran has denied Donald Trump’s claims, and this is not the first time. “No negotiations are currently taking place with the United States and no meetings are planned. Iran has no intention of hosting foreign delegations or sending negotiators abroad in the coming days,” said Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, yesterday. “All Iranian negotiators,” added Baghaei, “are currently in the country, with the exception of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is on a pilgrimage to Iraq. The only talks currently taking place are those with Oman regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Over the weekend, Trump had repeated a tactic that had already been tried, to no avail, during the last five months of the war. On Saturday, he had threatened ‘new, massive attacks’ against Iran, even ‘the biggest military attack since the Second World War’. On Sunday, he backtracked, at the request of the Gulf states, “to allow more time – as the White House explained – for negotiations on the reopening of shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz”.

“We were ready to go, but when our allies asked us to call the whole thing off, all we could say was: ‘Well, let’s see’,” the US president had said, opening the door to “immediate talks” with Iran. “Would I prefer to reach an agreement? I have no intention of killing anyone. We’re now talking to them,” Trump added whilst on board Air Force One on Sunday, without specifying the location or the participants in the talks.

But yesterday, the government in Tehran categorically denied that any talks were taking place with the United States. And The Donald was quick to express his full anger and frustration. ‘Iran will have to choose between a deal or total surrender,’ he stated on Truth Social, before boasting of his control over Iranian ports: ‘Nothing gets into Iran unless we want it to, and nothing will get in unless a deal is reached or there is total surrender. Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking about a solution to a problem that they themselves have caused, for decades,” he said, referring to the Ayatollahs’ nuclear programme.

Yesterday, Trump once again attacked the Iranian leadership, describing it as ‘incredibly hypocritical’; he boasted of the US Navy’s control over the Strait of Hormuz; and he insisted on negotiations. ‘I want to give them one last chance before decapitation. The Strait of Hormuz,’ he said from the Oval Office, ‘could literally be opened by tomorrow. You’ll find out soon; things will move quickly one way or the other. It’s not a very complicated matter. The first step is opening the strait. The second will be denuclearisation; it will take a little time, but we are very determined on this.”