Trump claims Iran talks are underway as Tehran denies it

Aug. 4, 2026, 7:11 AM EDTPresident Donald Trump accused Iran of duplicity and insisted the two sides were discussing reopening the Strait of Hormuz as early as Tuesday, even as Tehran denied talks were even taking place.The diplomatic confusion was underscored by an attack on a cargo vessel near the Strait’s Oman Coast, as reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, an organization run by the British navy that helps protect commercial shipping in high-risk areas.With traffic through the bottleneck still at a trickle of its peacetime flow, the international oil benchmark Brent crude rose again by 2.7% Tuesday, reflecting uncertainty in the market rather than any confidence in the diplomatic process.A woman waves an Iranian flag as a banner with a portrait of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hangs in behind her in Tehran Tuesday.Vahid Salemi / APOn Monday, Trump branded Iran “unbelievably duplicitous,” and accused them of asking for talks on ending the war only to announce no discussions would be held.“They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’” he wrote on Truth Social. “Talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’”In response to Trump’s claims of talks, Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters, “We currently do not have negotiations with America.” Iran is in discussions with Oman over a temporary safe route through the strait, Baghaei said, adding it has no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days.Muslim devotees walk past an anti-U.S.-Israel banner during a mourning procession in Tehran on Tuesday.AFP via Getty ImagesTrump later told reporters at the White House that negotiations with Tehran were “going on right now.” “It’s an amazing thing we have a little problem with Iran because we have many talks, and we’ll say we have or we don’t have. You know, we’re straight about it, but they deny it,” Trump said. “But they’re not denying it now. They just put out a statement not denying it.”On the Strait, he said the parties were discussing “having it open literally by tomorrow, completely open, and that’s phase one,” adding that the second phase of talks would focus on Iran’s nuclear program.The president had earlier called off intense new strikes on Iran, giving space for what he said would be fresh negotiations.Attacks have come the other way, though, with a cargo vessel reporting being struck by an “unknown projectile” of Oman’s coast Monday night, the UKMTO said. Maritime sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the vessel struck near Hormuz was a dry bulk ship. Its crew had to abandon the vessel and one seafarer was missing, the sources said.Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Monday.ReutersWhereas in peacetime around 100 ships would transit the Strait in a day, at least six vessels passed through Monday, according to an NBC News analysis of MarineTraffic data.Most of these, such as the Chinese owned tanker Starway and the Indian managed Horizon 1, continued to use the Iranian route which sees vessels sail south of Larak Island.In the absence of an agreed safe route between Iran and Oman, some vessels are taking a chance travelling along the Omani coast, their transponders turned off so as not to broadcast their positions. The ship hit on Monday evening was one of these, showing the risk still posed to those sailing through the Strait.