Iran said on Monday there were no talks taking place with the US and no plans for any meetings, contradicting US President Donald Trump who had cited talks he said would take place in the afternoon as justification for calling off attacks.
At the weekend Trump repeated a pattern that has emerged throughout the past five months: announcing plans for “massive attacks” on Iran, only to cancel them at the last minute.
“Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to kill people,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
“What we’re doing is talking to them, in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon,” he said, without identifying a venue or participants for talks.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei rejected the claim, saying no negotiations with the US were taking place and no meetings were scheduled. Iran had no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days, he said.
Baghaei said all Iranian negotiators were currently in the country, apart from foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, who was on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq. The only talks under way, he said, were discussions with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian source said no talks were planned and Araqchi would be unavailable at least until the end of the week.
Repeated pattern
Monday’s developments appeared to fit a pattern that has emerged since Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” alongside Israel more than five months ago. On several occasions Trump has threatened military action only to later cite diplomatic contacts as a reason for stepping back.
Iran, however, has publicly rejected negotiations with Washington since a June memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict collapsed in early July.
Trump is yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the outset of the war: dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, curbing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.
So far the US has failed to compel Iran to relinquish its grip on the waterway, sending global oil prices higher and pushing up politically sensitive gasoline prices in the US
Repeated US escalations have been met by escalating Iranian responses against US forces in the region, Washington’s Gulf Arab allies and shipping, each time ending with Trump stepping back.
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remains a central point of contention. Washington said the June memorandum required Iran to open the strategically vital waterway, while Tehran argued the text explicitly preserved its authority over shipping traffic.
That would leave Tehran with greater leverage over the strait than before the war, a result that would likely be seen as a significant setback for Trump.
So far the US has failed to compel Iran to relinquish its grip on the waterway, sending global oil prices higher and pushing up politically sensitive gasoline prices in the US.
Oil prices fell on Monday after Trump’s latest decision to hold back from military action, with Brent crude futures down more than 4% to about $84 a barrel.
In the latest reported incident in the strait, the British maritime security body UKMTO said overnight the master of a vessel had reported an explosion in the water near the ship. No one was hurt.
Reuters
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