The Middle East conflict has been thrown into confusion after Donald Trump declared the US had paused its Iranian bombing campaign following constructive talks, only for Tehran to reject the claims as untrue.
Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday the US and Iran had engaged in “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities” over the past two days.
Conversations would continue throughout the week, he claimed, adding that the US department of war had been instructed “to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period”.
Mr Trump cautioned that the stop in hostilities would be “subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions”.
But the Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry said no talks had taken place between Tehran and Washington and accused Mr Trump of trying to reduce energy prices and buy more time for further military action.
It did confirm that “initiatives” were in place to try to reduce tensions.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, added: “No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”
Asked about Iran’s denial, the president said before boarding Air Force One: “Well, they’re going to have to get themselves better public relations people. We’ve had very strong talks. Mr [Steve] Witkoff and [Jared] Kushner had them. They went perfectly.”
The Middle East has faced upheaval and chaos after US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 28 February.
Since then the US, Israel and Iran have been embroiled in near constant tit-for-tat strikes, with thousands of targets hit, several fuel facilities damaged or destroyed and oil prices surging after the Islamic Republic laid siege to the Strait of Hormuz.
While a spokesperson for Sir Keir Starmer initially welcomed the talks, the prime minister later provided a more sobering take on the conflict, saying the UK will be preparing for hostilities to continue for much longer.
Asked by MPs at the powerful Commons Liaison Committee how long he expected the conflict to continue, he said: “It’s hard to answer that question, if I’m honest about it.
“All of our focus and energy has to be in the swift de-escalation, but we’ve got to plan on the basis that it could go on for some time, and that’s the way in which we’ll plan this afternoon.”
His appearance before the Liaison Committee – made up of the chairs of parliamentary select committees – came just hours after President Trump said he would “postpone” threatened strikes on Iran.
