US President Donald Trump says diplomacy with Tehran has a chance to produce an agreement, but warns that the United States could return to military action if negotiations fail. Iran, meanwhile, says it is not engaged in direct talks with Washington.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States and Iran are engaged in what he described as “very friendly” negotiations, while warning that Washington could resume military operations if diplomatic efforts fail.
Iran has disputed that characterization. Iranian officials say Tehran is not currently holding direct negotiations with the United States, although they have confirmed diplomatic consultations with Oman, a frequent mediator between Washington and Tehran.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he believed there was a “good chance” that an agreement could emerge from the current diplomatic efforts. He added that, if negotiations do not produce results, the United States could return to the course it had followed before the pause in military operations.
Later that day, at a campaign rally in Michigan, Trump again referred to what he called “very friendly negotiations” with Iran. His comments combined an expression of openness to diplomacy with a renewed warning that Washington was prepared to use force.
In an interview with Axios, Trump confirmed that he had halted strikes against Iran to give diplomacy an opportunity. He said that if what he described as “deep talks” failed to deliver results, the United States would return to “very strong military action.”
Strait of Hormuz at the Center of Talks
According to reports cited by Axios, the diplomatic efforts are focused in part on a possible arrangement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and on the possibility of reviving negotiations over a broader agreement concerning Iran’s nuclear program.
The talks are reportedly being conducted primarily between Iran and Oman, with Qatar, Pakistan and Egypt also involved. Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are also involved in the wider diplomatic effort.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a central issue in the conflict because of its importance to commercial shipping and global energy markets. A sustainable agreement governing passage through the waterway could therefore have consequences well beyond the immediate US-Iran dispute.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, however, pushed back against Trump's description of the diplomatic process. He said Tehran was not currently negotiating with Washington and dismissed reports that Iran had requested direct talks as speculation.
Baghaei said the only ongoing dialogue was with Oman concerning arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, he stressed that Iran had not abandoned diplomacy as a tool for protecting what it considers its national interests.
Tehran Demands a Change in US Behavior
Baghaei also addressed the possibility of future direct negotiations between Iran and the United States.
According to the Iranian spokesman, Washington would first need to demonstrate what he described as more responsible behavior. He accused the United States of disregarding international law and compared its conduct over the past one to two years to that of a “mafia gang.”
The comments illustrate the gap between the two sides even as diplomatic contacts appear to be continuing through intermediaries.
For Washington, the current pause provides an opportunity to test whether diplomacy can resolve disputes that military operations have failed to settle. For Tehran, the emphasis remains on sovereignty, the conduct of the United States and the conditions under which direct engagement could become politically possible.
Questions Over the Pause in US Strikes
The diplomatic developments came after reports that Trump had decided against expanding the US attack on Iran, at least temporarily.
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision was influenced not only by a desire to create space for diplomacy but also by concerns about US stocks of air-defense missiles.
Trump rejected the suggestion that the US military was running short of munitions, saying that the United States possessed more munitions than any other country in the world.
The disagreement over military capacity adds another layer of uncertainty to the pause. While Trump has presented diplomacy as an opportunity to reach an agreement, his repeated warnings about renewed military action underline how fragile the situation remains.
Netanyahu Visit Adds Another Diplomatic Test
The latest developments also come ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.
Before departing Monday, Netanyahu said he expected to discuss “all the issues on the agenda, primarily Iran” with Trump. He said Israel’s objective was to maintain its security while also expanding what he described as the circle of peace in the region.
Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump could therefore become an important factor in the next stage of the US approach to Iran, particularly as Washington weighs diplomacy against the possibility of renewed military pressure.
A Fragile Pause After Weeks of Fighting
The current diplomatic opening follows renewed US strikes on Iran and Iranian retaliation.
The escalation came after the collapse of a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding designed to establish a temporary framework for ending hostilities and addressing several of the central disputes between Washington and Tehran.
The memorandum called for an immediate end to military operations and provided for a 60-day period during which commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz would resume without charges. It also included provisions concerning the removal of the US naval blockade and negotiations over the future administration of the waterway.
The agreement also envisioned sanctions relief and a US-backed reconstruction framework, while leaving some of the most difficult questions, particularly those surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, for a subsequent negotiating period.
The collapse of that arrangement exposed how difficult it will be to convert a temporary cessation of hostilities into a durable political settlement.
Diplomacy or a Return to War?
For now, the two governments appear to be describing the diplomatic situation in fundamentally different terms.
Trump says negotiations are progressing and has signaled that he is willing to give diplomacy time to work. At the same time, he has made clear that military action remains an option if the process fails.
Iran, meanwhile, denies that direct negotiations with Washington are taking place, while maintaining contact with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz and leaving open the broader possibility of diplomacy.
That distinction may prove crucial in the days ahead. If intermediaries can bridge the gap between the two sides, discussions over Hormuz could provide a pathway toward broader negotiations, including the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
If they cannot, Trump’s warnings suggest that the pause in US military operations may prove temporary.
For now, diplomacy has created an opening, but neither side has indicated that the fundamental disagreements between Washington and Tehran have been resolved.
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