In Focus: Trump Says No U.S.-Iran Talks Are Underway or Scheduled

DONALD TRUMP said Tuesday that the United States had no active or scheduled talks with Iran, closing another path toward a permanent settlement nearly six months after the conflict began.

Trump also declared the Strait of Hormuz open and said a U.S. naval blockade of Iran remained in effect. Tehran presented a different account, saying the strategic shipping route would stay closed until Washington honored the conditions of a June 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 Truth Social post.

The competing declarations left two central objectives unresolved: a permanent end to the war and the resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strait.

The United States and Iran signed an interim agreement in June after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. The accord failed to produce a permanent settlement, and visible progress toward formal peace talks has stopped.

Trump reinforced that position Monday when reporters asked whether the United States wanted to extend the interim agreement. He said it did not.

Iran has tied further movement to four demands. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, told parliament that Washington must lift its blockade of Iranian ports, remove oil sanctions, release Tehran’s frozen assets and end threats and military operations on all fronts.

Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States met those conditions.

Trump’s assertion that the waterway was open placed the White House and Tehran in direct disagreement over the status of a shipping route at the center of the conflict.

The president said all water mines had been removed or detonated. Iran maintained that tanker passage remained contingent on U.S. compliance with the interim agreement.

The absence of a shared position has halted outward progress toward restoring tanker traffic. It has also bound the fate of the strait to the wider dispute over sanctions, frozen Iranian assets, the U.S. blockade and ongoing military operations.

Trump’s account followed a more optimistic assessment Monday from Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and special envoy. Kushner described extensive contacts across both governments.

“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, before adding: “But we are having very positive and active conversations and we’ll see what happens.

Trump’s statement one day later denied that any talks or conversations were taking place or scheduled. The conflicting descriptions left the existence and scope of diplomatic contacts publicly unresolved.

Tehran is also preparing for possible escalation. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Iran would shift to a “fully offensive” military posture because attempts to negotiate a permanent end to the war had stalled.

The warning placed added pressure on a diplomatic process that has produced no final agreement. With tanker traffic stalled, the June accord unextended and the two governments disputing whether talks exist, the conflict faces a growing risk of continuing without a negotiated exit.

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