Iran denies requesting talks with US

Iran on Friday denied U.S. President Donald Trump's statement that it had requested talks with Washington, and it also denied the reports that a new round of talks between the two countries would take place next week.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.

In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that Iran had made no request for negotiations with the United States.

"However, we did not reject a request by one of the regional mediators to visit Iran and discuss the latest developments," Baghaei added.

U.S. media outlet Axios reported that a new round of U.S.-Iran negotiations is expected to be held next week, possibly in Switzerland.

However, a source close to Iran's negotiating team denied such reports, saying they have no factual basis, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Friday.

The source added that any developments in the negotiation process would be announced only through official channels of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Regarding Trump's announcement that the ceasefire is over, U.S. Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins said on Friday that there were "no operational updates."

Asked whether the end of the ceasefire would lead to a resumption of airstrikes, Hawkins said he would not speculate about future operations.

Meanwhile, an U.S. official said that the United States has been deliberately striking and then pausing to avoid escalation and let diplomacy work.

Over the past few days since the the United States resumed strikes against Iran following Tehran's attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,, Pakistan, Qatar and other mediators in the region have been working to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table.

Qatari negotiators have traveled to Iran after coordinating with the Trump administration in an effort to de-escalate tensions and revive the U.S.-Iran talks, CNN reported Friday, citing a diplomat familiar with the effort.

According to Baghaei, the visit took place on Friday in Mashhad, where Tehran conveyed its views and positions to the Qatari side.

In addition, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held separate phone calls with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Friday, calling for the restoration of peace in the region and the compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)singed by Iran and the United States in mid June.

The 14-point MoU aimed at halting hostilities. Brokered by Pakistan, the deal mandated a permanent ceasefire across all fronts, including Lebanon, and a framework to ease U.S. sanctions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. dollar advanced in late trading on Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, gained 0.05 percent to 100.953 at 15:00 U.S. Eastern Time (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro lost to 1.1416 U.S. dollars from 1.1434 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.3398 dollars from 1.3416 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 161.69 Japanese yen, lower than 162.34 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.8085 Swiss francs from 0.8066 Swiss francs, and it declined to 1.4152 Canadian dollars from 1.4167 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar climbed to 9.6638 Swedish kronor from 9.6602 Swedish kronor.