Trump Announces Very Good Talks With Iran As Iran Denies Negotiations

President Donald Trump shifted from threatening to escalate the war against Iran to announcing “very, very good” talks to end it, while Iran denied that such talks were underway.

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The Al Jazeera net report says the Axios news site noted that the United States and a group of regional mediators are discussing the possibility of holding high-level peace talks with Iran.

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It also frames the dispute over what “talks” means, stating that “They are ongoing according to Trump, while Iran denies that.”

Trump said the United States is in contact with an unnamed Iranian leader, describing him as “the man I think is the most respected figure and the leader,” and adding that he was “very rational.”

The report clarifies that Trump said this is not the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Axios, citing an anonymous Israeli official, suggested the interlocutor could be the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the report says Ghalibaf denied it on X, saying “No negotiations have taken place with the United States, and fake news is being used to manipulate financial and oil markets, and to get out of the swamp in which the United States and Israel are stuck.”

The same Al Jazeera net account adds that The New York Times, citing unnamed officials, reported “direct contact” between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkov “in recent days,” though neither side confirmed the accuracy of the matter.

The Al Jazeera net report says the Trump administration has conducted two rounds of talks with Iran since the American billionaire returned to the White House in 2025, and that each ended in surprise U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

It specifies that the first attack began in June of last year and that the second began on February 28.

Al-Jazeera Net

Those talks are described as indirect, with Oman playing the mediator and carrying messages between the two sides whose diplomatic relations have been formally severed since 1980.

The report says Oman appeared disappointed by past experiences, but that other countries with friendly ties to Tehran and Washington intervened to relay messages, naming Egypt, Pakistan, and perhaps Turkey.

It adds that Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Araghchi and Witkov on Sunday and Monday.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Tuesday, expressed readiness to host negotiations, while noting that the initiative depends on the approval of the United States and Iran.

The report also includes a skepticism quoted from Agence France-Presse, where Middle East Institute researcher Ross Harrison, author of “Decoding Iran's Foreign Policy,” said: “I don't think they are speaking to anyone. I think it's being done through some mediation.”

In the same account, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Bagheri is quoted saying the Iranian side had received messages in recent days “from friendly countries regarding a U.S. request for talks aimed at ending the war.”

A separate report in عصر ایران says direct contact has been established between Abbas Araghchi and Steve Vitkaf, citing Amwaj.media sources familiar with the matter as 6 Mehr and the return of United Nations sanctions on Iran draw near.

“President Donald Trump moved from threatening to escalate the war against Iran to announcing 'very, very good' talks to end it, which Iran denied”

Al-Jazeera Net

It states that Araghchi presented a roadmap for a deal, while saying the United States has not yet responded.

The same article says AseR Iran and Amwaj Media claimed that Iranians and American officials have had direct contacts in recent days, describing it as indicating political will in Tehran to prevent an imminent nuclear confrontation at the United Nations Security Council.

It also says EuroNews, citing this outlet, wrote that Abbas Araghchi has been in contact with his American counterpart, Steve Vitkaf, while the shadow of confrontation hangs over European efforts to restore UN sanctions.

The report provides a timeline around negotiations, saying the two senior officials were supposed to meet last on June 15 in Amman for the sixth round of nuclear negotiations this year, but that the meeting was disrupted due to Israel’s surprise attack on Iran on June 13.

It adds that the United States bombed three key Iranian nuclear sites on June 22 and that shortly afterward, a ceasefire-breaking move by Donald Trump was announced.

The article then describes the proposal Araghchi presented on September 16, a day before a phone call with peers from the E3 group (UK, France, and Germany) and the European Union, and says the broad outlines were shared with European foreign ministers.

It lays out two simultaneous steps until the time of reimposition of United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran on September 28, including resuming negotiations for a temporary agreement involving the recovery and dilution of the highly enriched uranium stockpile and seeking extension of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

The report says an Iranian senior political source told Amwaj.media that the Trump administration has not yet responded to the proposal Araghchi presented on September 16, while another political source in Tehran is skeptical about the likelihood that Trump will yield to Iran’s terms.

The Al Jazeera net report says the negotiations’ subject is Iran’s nuclear program, calling it “always and forever” the focal point of negotiations and tension since 2003 and one of the main reasons for international sanctions on Tehran.

It quotes Trump saying on Monday, “We do not want enrichment, but we also want enriched uranium,” and it ties that to Iran’s known stockpile of uranium totaling 440 kilograms enriched to 60% of the 90% needed to make a nuclear bomb.

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The report says that in the last round of talks before the U.S.-Israeli attack on February 28, Tehran offered to extract its stockpile from beneath the facilities it had bombed and reduce it to lower levels, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

It adds that Iran also offered to allow the IAEA inspectors to return, according to reports.

The Al Jazeera net account says Trump on Monday said there were “important points agreed upon” by the American and Iranian sides, but that after being attacked twice, Iran is believed to seek assurances against future aggression, compensation for the bombing, and the lifting of sanctions.

It also describes the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining chip that has effectively been closed, and it quotes David Calva, a Middle East analyst at the Jean Jaurès Foundation in Paris, saying, “I have many doubts about the negotiations because trust has been completely destroyed and the positions of the warring parties are further apart than ever.”

Calva adds, “the margin for maneuver on both sides is very limited.”

The report then warns that there are warnings Trump may be trying to buy time before sending ground troops to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or seize Iran's oil assets.

Finally, it says CNN cited Iranian sources saying Washington had tried to contact Tehran to negotiate as the United States and Israel continue their attacks.

In Iran, a separate report in اقتصادنیوز site مرجع اقتصاد ایران addresses rumors about contact between Ali Larijani and Donald Trump, with a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Parliament denying a phone call.

“Mehr News Agency | Iran and World News | Mehr News Agency https://mehrnews”

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It says Salar Velayatmandar rejected rumors of a phone call between Larijani and Trump and told Economy News, citing Rooydad24, that: “The idea that some people speculate or that rumors are circulated that Mr. Larijani spoke by phone with Trump is not true.”

اقتصادنیوز سایت مرجع اقتصاد ایران

He added, “There is no reason for secret negotiations, and there is not even a direct conversation with Trump on Iran's program.”

The same report quotes Velayatmandar explaining the role of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, saying: “Mr. Larijani, as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has a decisive role in policymaking.”

It describes the Supreme National Security Council as “a unique institution in the 47 years since the revolution,” and says members “believe in the principles of the revolution; therefore the council's view in indirect negotiations with the United States is prominent.”

Velayatmandar also said: “The conduct of the recent Iran–U.S. negotiations is guided by the Supreme National Security Council.”

He further explained that when the foreign minister says “we must consult with Tehran,” it means “this very council,” and that “The other side also has in its own country a mechanism similar to this.”

The report also includes Velayatmandar’s response on why Larijani did not react to the false phrase “Arabian Gulf,” saying: “If something like this had happened, Mr. Larijani certainly would not have missed it; otherwise he would have reacted, and this incident was not intentional.”