No Peace Talks Taking Place With Iran, Trump Says

President Donald Trump said on Aug. 18 that the United States was not holding negotiations with Iran and that the U.S. military continued to enforce its naval blockade against the regime.

“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote in a Tuesday statement on Truth Social. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.”

The president’s statement came after the 60-day negotiating window established under the memorandum of understanding that was signed by the United States and Iran on June 17. The two countries had agreed to reach a final peace deal within 60 days. However, the memorandum of understanding allowed for an extension of the 60-day deadline if both countries mutually agreed to it.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Aug. 17 that he was not seeking an extension of the memorandum of understanding with Iran.

U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner told Fox News on Aug. 17 that the United States was “having very positive and active conversations” with Iran.

“The conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government [in] all areas [are] probably more robust than [they’ve] maybe ever been,” he said.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump reiterated his administration’s position that the “number one goal” was to ensure that Iran could not have a nuclear weapon.

While Trump said on Aug. 18 that the Strait of Hormuz was open and operational, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, said the key waterway was still closed. He maintained on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States met conditions outlined in the June memorandum of understanding.

Qalibaf told Iran’s parliament that the conditions included the United States ending military operations in Iran, ending the naval blockade of Iranian ports, removing oil sanctions, and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.

On Tuesday, Trump shared an image of a map on Truth Social that labeled the Strait of Hormuz as a “new U.S. territory.” 

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi quickly responded to Trump’s Truth Social post in a statement on X.

“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man,” he wrote.

Reuters contributed to this report.