WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks between the U.S. and Iran were neither taking place nor scheduled, but the Strait of Hormuz was open, while Iran said the shipping route would remain closed until the U.S. fulfilled the terms of an interim deal.
"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 post comes after a 60-day negotiating period ended this week between the U.S. and Iran with no clear end to the war in sight.
Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments published by state media on Tuesday that the Strait would remain shut until the U.S. met the conditions of an interim deal signed with Iran in June.
On Monday, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and special envoy, was optimistic about talks that he said 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.
Outward progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, threatening to extend the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched with attacks on Iran on February 28.
Asked by reporters on Monday if the U.S. was seeking to extend June's interim agreement, Trump said no.
Trump said that Iran would not make the deal he thinks is needed to end a war with the U.S. and should surrender as talks between the 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 deal agreed to in June declared an "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts", but quickly unraveled, with Trump saying it was "over" on July 7 and Iran's foreign ministry declaring it "suspended" a week later.
Under that memorandum of understanding, Iran and the U.S. committed to negotiating a final deal — covering broader issues such as the fate of Iran's nuclear programme — in a maximum of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent. Monday marks 60 days since the MOU was signed.
Hours before, Trump told a Fox News reporter during a phone interview that Iran "should put up the white flag of surrender."