The Egyptian foreign ministry has disclosed that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed “potential negotiations” between the US and Iran in a phone call with US Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The ministry said the call came during concerted efforts to revive the “diplomatic path .. as the sole way to avert a comprehensive chaos in the region.”
The ministry added that Abdelatty also spoke with the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France and Cyprus.
This follows after President Donald Trump delayed a deadline for Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz for shipping or see its power stations targeted by airstrikes.
Trump also claimed that his government was holding productive talks with Tehran, but fighting showed no signs of slowing and Iran denied there were talks.
Trump told reporters Iran wants “to make a deal,” and he claimed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had held talks Sunday with an Iranian leader. He did not say who that was, but said the US has not talked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Trump said during an extended exchange with reporters before boarding Air Force One on Monday morning to make his way from his home in Florida to an event in Memphis, Tennessee, “All I’m saying is we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal,” adding, “And I think, if I were a betting man I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
The US President made no mention of Iran’s vow that vital infrastructure across the Gulf region, including energy and desalination facilities critical for drinking water, would be considered legitimate targets and “irreversibly destroyed” if Trump acted on his threat.
However, Iran refuted that there had been any high-level communications with the White House and dismissed Trump’s rhetoric as a thinly veiled attempt to manipulate jittery global markets.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Trump’s statement was nothing more than an effort “to reduce energy prices and to buy time for implementing his military plans.”
Also, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the Speaker of Iran’s parliament, posted on X, “No negotiations have been held with the US.” “And fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” he added.
Over the course of the the past few weeks, Trump has offered shifting reasons for launching the war as Democrats accuse him of needlessly shaking the global economy and polls at home show that Americans are divided along party lines about the conflict.
Nonetheless, Trump has settled on a list of goals he has said must be achieved, including degrading Iran’s missile capability, destroying its defense industrial base, eliminating the Iranian navy, preventing Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons, and securing the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Calls For ‘Firm’ Stance Against US
Iran’s Deputy Parliament Speaker asserted that Iran should not negotiate with Trump, who has proven himself to be a “liar and without honour.”
Ali Nikzad was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, with the support of its people, stands firmly on its military capabilities, and if Trump is telling the truth, he should announce who he negotiated with.” “His threats are a big lie,” he added.
Nikzad pointed out that, during two previous rounds of negotiations, in June 2025 and in February, the US ended up attacking Iran while negotiators were making progress on an agreement to prevent a conflict.
Also, a senior parliament member urged caution amid reported talks with US.
Esmaeil Kowsari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee said that Iranian officials “need to think wisely” before entering into any talks with the US, citing Washington’s recent history of launching attacks on Tehran while talks to achieve peace were in progress. He added, “This is not the first time they have lied about negotiations.”
“Trump, Netanyahu, and their ilk are inherently liars, and their nature is to sow division. Their nature is to create division so that they can make people sceptical of the authorities and feel that something has been done, when nothing has been done.”
Esmaeil Kowsari
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