Iran Says US Claims About Negotiations Are ‘Fabricated’

U.S. officials have claimed that the Iranian regime is seeking a deal to end the war, but an Iranian spokesperson has refuted these claims.

These back-and-forth claims from Iranian and U.S. officials come after the U.S. military paused a two-week bombing campaign that saw the destruction of civilian infrastructure throughout Iran. Iran has also paused its retaliatory strikes, which targeted Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Syria and Iraq, according to multiple outlets.

“Iran begged the United States to halt the devastating strikes, and they are desperate for a deal,” a U.S. official close to the White House told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “President Trump has said he prefers a diplomatic solution, but he retains all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the Strait of Hormuz or against our allies.”

U.S. officials, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, have claimed on multiple occasions that the Iranian regime is seeking a deal with the U.S.

“Iran is begging us, okay, both directly and indirectly, let’s do a deal, let’s talk,” Rubio said to reporters on Thursday after the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center. “Iran is begging every day. The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people that are in charge there, they either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they’re not ready to make a deal, so they’re going to continue to pay a price.”

“He (President Donald Trump) is giving talks some space,” Waltz said Sunday during an interview on Fox News. “He’s giving it a little bit of room … a number of other negotiators engaged at every level. From the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks and particularly in the past few days.”

The permanent Iranian mission to the United Nations and Waltz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iranian officials have raced to refute the Trump administration’s claims.

“Reports about Iran requesting negotiations with the U.S. are fabricated,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said during a press conference on Monday. “This ​is not in our DNA.”

“Do not pay attention to media speculation. We currently have no negotiations with America,” an approximate English translation of a Monday X post from the Islamic Republic News Agency, an official Iranian state-backed news outlet, says.

Six ships had to turn around in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after the Iranian regime ordered them to stop, according to Iranian state-backed media outlet PressTV.

Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been split into two separate routes, a North route controlled by the Iranian regime and a South route controlled by Oman and the U.S. military. Iran has been striking any ships that attempt to cross the strait using the South route.

“As previously announced, the traffic route in the Strait of Hormuz is the route specified by Iran, and other routes are contaminated and have no way out,” Reuters reported on Monday, citing Iranian state media.

“The vessels attempted to transit through the illegal and unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz in violation of [standing] regulations after switching off their navigation and positioning systems, at the instigation of the child-killing and terrorist US military,” PressTV reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the Iranian regime.

Iranian retaliations throughout the region for the U.S. strikes have cost the lives of American service members. One Iranian missile struck the living quarters of U.S. troops on a Jordanian air base, killing three American service members on July 17.

One video posted on X depicts the chaos that unfolded during the Iranian attack on the Jordanian air base.

The casualties in the Iran War continue to mount, despite the recent pause on attacks.

The war has cost the lives of 18 American service members; however, the Defense Casualty Analysis System moved 4 deaths from “Operation Epic Fury” into a new section called “Overseas Operations.” Over 500 U.S. troops have been wounded in the Iran War, The Associated Press reported, citing an anonymous U.S. official.

The deaths of 1,701 Iranian civilians and 1,221 Iranian military personnel, combined with 714 Iranian deaths not yet classified, bringing the total Iranian death toll to 3,636, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, Reuters reported.

“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump said during an interview with Axios on Monday.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from the White House.