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Iranian media on Sunday denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran had asked Washington to refrain from launching new strikes and rejected reports that an agreement had been reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Mehr news agency, citing military officials, described Trump’s allegation as “nothing but a new lie” and said the Iranian armed forces were on high alert and prepared for any eventuality.
The semi-official Fars news agency separately cited an unnamed source close to Iran’s negotiating team as saying claims that an agreement had been reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping were untrue.
The source said no agreement had been concluded.
Fars also quoted an unnamed military source as saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed as long as the U.S. continued what the source described as hostile actions.
Ships would only be permitted to pass through the waterway along the announced route and with authorization from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, the source said.
Iran has largely blockaded the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, requiring vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before passing through the waterway.
The closure sent global oil prices soaring.
Trump said he would hold off on a new military strike against Iran after what he described as a request from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries for time to finalize the “perimeters of a deal.”
“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” he said.
Trump said the proposed agreement would include the “Immediate, Complete, and Total” reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to what he called Iran’s nuclear threat.
“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the World and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a deal,” he said.
Trump added that Israel had joined the commitment and urged the parties to complete the agreement.
According to Axios, Qatari mediators held separate discussions Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Omani officials in an effort to secure an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A source familiar with the discussions told Axios that the talks had made progress, although it remained unclear whether the developments would be sufficient to defuse the crisis.
The U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran on Feb. 28, beginning a war Trump has said was intended to destroy Tehran’s missile capabilities, prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and end its support for allied armed groups.
The war’s stated goals and timelines have repeatedly shifted, while an earlier agreement reached in mid-June to halt the fighting collapsed within weeks.
Iran retaliated by largely closing the Strait of Hormuz.
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