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Democratic senators Chris Van Hollen and Chris Murphy accused President Donald Trump on Monday of lying about the existence of talks with Iran, with Van Hollen telling CNN that Trump's claims are false and calling his threat to strike Iranian civilian energy infrastructure a potential war crime.
While Murphy stated that Trump has "lost control of this war" and described the five-day pause as a "panicky message to the markets."
Speaking to CNN, Senator Van Hollen said Trump's statements that Iran is negotiating with the U.S. and is ready to accept his demands do not reflect reality.
"We know he is lying," Van Hollen said.
In a post on X, Van Hollen wrote: "3 weeks into Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran, and all he's doing is lying. He lied to get us into this war, and now he's lying about getting us out of it. It's time to end this war NOW."
Van Hollen also called Trump's threat to target Iran's energy infrastructure a potential war crime.
"Let's be clear: targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime under international law. The world has called out Russia for doing exactly this in Ukraine. If Trump and Hegseth follow Putin's playbook, they must be held accountable," Van Hollen wrote on X.
He told CNN that the threat could be "contrary to international law" and said there is a need for "systems that hold war crimes accountable."
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut quoted Trump's Truth Social post on X and offered a pointed critique.
A. Trump isn't announcing a pause on strikes. He's saying he's postponing a possible war crime—strikes on Iran's civilian energy infrastructure. B. Also, this isn't a message to Iran. It's a panicky message to the markets: 'No war escalation until markets close on Friday,'" Murphy wrote.
In a separate post, Murphy said: "This was totally predictable, but Trump has lost control of this war.
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, oil prices are skyrocketing, war has broken out between Israel and Lebanon, and Iran continues to bomb our allies. He has created a historic mess that is hurting Americans."
U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. has renewed discussions with Tehran might be a move to calm markets as oil prices surge, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin told CNN on Tuesday.
Rubin said he "wouldn’t be surprised" if the U.S. was in touch with Iranian officials, noting that, "But they may not be talking to anybody quite frankly, and just be moving to try to signal to markets to calm down."
"The president understands that prices for gas are going up and that a glut of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is building, and he needs to do something to try to slow that down," Rubin added.
Trump announced Monday he had ordered a five-day postponement of all strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure, citing "very good and productive" conversations with Iran over the past two days.
He described the discussions as "in-depth, detailed and constructive" and said they would continue throughout the week.
Iranian officials, including parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, denied that any negotiations are taking place.
A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official told CBS News that Iran had received points from the U.S. through mediators, which were being reviewed, but stopped short of confirming formal talks.
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Regional escalation has continued since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing over 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets.
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