President Donald Trump has responded after Iranian officials denied having held any talks with the Trump administration in recent days. Trump, on Monday, March 23, stated that secret negotiations between his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, were conducted as recently as last night, which led him to postpone the planned U.S. attack on Iran’s power plants.
In a phone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria, Trump addressed the stark contradiction after Iranian state television and officials flatly rejected his claims of progress.
Tehran described the U.S. narrative as propaganda designed to calm jittery energy markets and buy time amid continued American airstrikes.
“Iran wants to make a deal badly,” Trump told Bartiromo. He confirmed the latest round of discussions took place Sunday night, with Kushner, his son-in-law and a key foreign policy adviser, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff engaging their Iranian counterparts, reportedly with indirect help from mediators in Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan.
When pressed on Iranian TV reports claiming that no talks were underway, Trump noted he was not sure what they were referring to, since the most recent talks took place last night.
Also Read: Trump Orders Hormuz Strait Opening Within 48 Hours Ahead of Imminent Attack
He added that reliable information is tough to come by in Iran right now “because the U.S. is blowing up so much of their infrastructure.”
The comments came hours after Trump announced on Truth Social that he was postponing planned U.S. strikes on Iranian power plants and energy sites for five days.
In a post on Truth Social Monday morning, Trump said he is expecting the ongoing talks to stretch through the week, thus the need for the military to put off the plan to hit Iranian power sources.
“Based on the tenor and tenor of these in-depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, which will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions,” Trump’s post on Truth Social read in part.
The President had issued a blunt 48-hour ultimatum late Saturday, vowing to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power plants, starting with the largest, if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to unrestricted international shipping.
The narrow waterway is a chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, and Iran’s effective blockade has sent energy prices soaring and disturbed global trade.
The Iranians reacted defiantly to this first threat, with their Revolutionary Guard Corps issuing a statement that any attack on their energy infrastructure by the US would be met with immediate retaliatory strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure, including that which served US bases and allies.
Also Read: Trump Signals U.S. Pullback from Iran and Hormuz Policing
Tehran also vowed to keep the strait “completely closed” until any damaged Iranian plants were rebuilt, heightening concerns with potential humanitarian crises in water-deficient nations.
Iran Denies Talks with Trump Happened
Al Jazeera reported that Iranian officials said no talks took place and framed Trump’s public optimism as an attempt to project strength while steering clear of an immediate escalation that could further damage their battered energy grid.
A semi-official Iranian news source echoed that line, saying messages may have come through third parties but insisting “there is no negotiation underway.”
This back-and-forth clearly shows the deep mistrust between the two sides amid a war that has already caused widespread disruption.
So far, U.S. strikes have focused on non-energy targets, but Trump’s threats to hit power infrastructure raised fears of blackouts and humanitarian fallout in Iran.
After Trump’s announcement that he was postponing the strike on Iran’s power plants for 5 days, NBC News reported that U.S. stock futures climbed 1-2%, while oil prices fell 8-12% from recent highs.
