Iranian media said on Tuesday that the country had halted message exchanges for several days with the United States on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the war, while the U.S. side claimed talks are still ongoing.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said that the last message sent from Tehran to Washington was regarding Lebanon, which had received global attention.
The report came as U.S. President Donald Trump wrote Tuesday in a Truth Social post that negotiations between the United States and Iran "have been going on continuously."
Reports about the suspension of the negotiations are "false and erroneous," Trump wrote.
Testifying before Congress on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the two countries are still in talks, and that Iran's conventional shield has been significantly weakened.
He said that Iran must explicitly declare the Strait of Hormuz is now open, and that the primary condition for negotiations is Iran's opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Furthermore, Iran must commit to concrete negotiations on how to handle highly enriched uranium, he added.
Rubio said that Iran will not receive sanctions relief simply by reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and said that any sanctions relief for Iran will be contingent upon specific conditions.
Iranian officials have not yet responded to the claims.
Iranian source says message exchanges suspended, US claims talks ongoing
