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Hormuz talks clash
Washington and Tehran offered sharply conflicting accounts of diplomacy over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, with Iran denying negotiations were underway even as US President Donald Trump claimed progress and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of engaging in “theatre diplomacy”.
“Iran denied negotiations were underway even as US President Donald Trump claimed progress”
Trump also threatened that Iran would be “hit very hard” unless the strategic waterway was reopened soon, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was “not holding any negotiations with the United States at present”.
Ghalibaf targeted Washington’s mix of military warnings and claims of diplomatic engagement in a post on X, writing, “Massive attack coming… wait, never mind, they want to negotiate. That’s theater diplomacy on loop.”
Iran’s Acting Defence Minister Brigadier General Majid Ebn-e-Reza said the country’s armed forces were prepared to respond to external threats, adding that “our Armed Forces, relying on the country’s defence industry, are fully equipped to respond to any threat,” according to IRNA.
In a separate televised address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said government coordination helped prevent attacks on infrastructure from severely disrupting everyday life, saying, “The people didn’t feel the war at all.”
Ghalibaf’s rebuttal
In a post on X, Ghalibaf accused the United States of pursuing “theatre diplomacy” and demanded it honour its commitments amid escalating tensions over the Strait of Hormuz.
He wrote, “Using bullying + broken promises + fake news as leverage is a failed strategy,” and said, “Acknowledge the facts and fulfill your commitments. We don’t need more theater.”
The dispute over whether talks are taking place has unfolded alongside Trump’s claim that the United States was having “very good discussions” with Iranian officials and that Tehran had approached Washington seeking negotiations.
US Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with Fox News that negotiations would be “messy” and “take some time,” while maintaining that Washington would continue using military, economic and diplomatic tools.
Kurdistan24 reported that Ghalibaf urged Washington to “face reality and accept your defeat,” and said “The U.S. diplomacy show has once again failed.”
What’s at stake
The competing claims over diplomacy are tied to the Strait of Hormuz as a critical Gulf shipping corridor, and the exchange has continued as Trump warned Iran would be “hit very hard” if the strait was not reopened “very soon.”
“Trump threatened that Iran would be “hit very hard” unless the strategic waterway was reopened soon”
Iran’s position is that passage depends on guarantees from the United States, and CNN reported Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharib Abadi said, “No.” when asked whether Iran was actually implementing Article Five of the June agreement.
CNN said Iran laid out demands including ending the maritime blockade of Iranian ports and addressing sanctions reimposed on Iran after the collapse of the truce, particularly those on the oil sector.
The Al Jazeera account added that Trump cancelled a planned large-scale military attack on Iran, claiming that Tehran and other countries in the region had asked the US to call off the strikes as a diplomatic breakthrough was close.
Meanwhile, The Statesman | Asian reported that Trump said he believed the war on Iran was close to an end, promising that petrol prices would drop when the conflict is over, while Iranian officials emphasised they were prepared for a long war.
