President Donald Trump on said in a Truth Social post Monday that he would order the U.S. military to postpone strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days following talks with Tehran’s authorities.
He told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a phone call shortly after the post that “we are very intent on making a deal with Iran.”
However, Iranian state media, citing an unnamed “senior security official” in a post on Telegram countered Trump’s description of conversations, saying direct or indirect talks have not taken place between Washington and Tehran.
“There is been no negotiation and there is no negotiation, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war conditions nor will there be peace in the energy markets,” state media reported the official as saying.
Trump countered that the most recent talks between U.S. negotiators and their Iranian counterparts had occurred Sunday night, according to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, describing a Monday morning phone call with the president.
“When I asked about the Iranian TV saying that no talks have happened, he said, ‘It’s hard to get any information there, because of, the U.S. is blowing up so much of their infrastructure,'” Bartiromo said on air.
Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had participated in the talks with Iran, according to Bartiromo. “Iran wants to make a deal badly,” she said he told her.
Trump said earlier in the Truth Social post that the U.S. and Iran had “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”
The U.S. president said these talks would continue through the week. It was not immediately clear who participated in the talks or when they where they were held.
U.S. stock futures rallied, the dollar fell against other major currencies and oil prices tumbled on the news.
Speaking with Kernen, Trump said discussions with Iranian authorities had been very intense and that he remains hopeful something very substantive can be achieved.
The U.S. president also insisted on the same call that what is unfolding in Iran can be described as regime change, Kernen reported.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for additional information about the purported talks, and did not immediately respond to Iran’s claim that no such negotiations are underway.
Trump’s comments came shortly after he had given Iran 48 hours to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow waterway is a key maritime corridor that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Roughly 20% of global oil and gas typically passes through it.
The U.S. president had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Tehran on Saturday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants. The deadline had been due to expire on Monday evening in Washington.
Iran’s Parliament spokesperson Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had said critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Gulf region could be “irreversibly destroyed” should Iranian power plants be attacked.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has virtually ground to a halt since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting ships trying to pass through the strait, with several incidents reported in recent weeks.
The Iran war has stoked global inflation fears and created what the the International Energy Agency says is the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC