Live Updates: Iran denies Trump's claim that U.S.-Iran negotiations to begin today after U.S. strikes called off

Tehran threatened to take "necessary measures" after Ukraine attacked an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, the country's foreign ministry said Monday. 

"Ukrainian officials … stressed that the incident was unintentional," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, referring to the July 25 strike that killed one soldier and wounded another. "However, the evidence and circumstances are quite clear. Among them are the explicit statements made by the President of Ukraine, which indicate that the attack was deliberate."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that he didn't want to open a "new front" with the attack on the ship, but said Iran had "already attacked us," referring to Iran supplying Russia with attack drones.

"We have heard the explanations provided by the Ukrainian authorities, and we are waiting to see whether they will take practical steps that substantiate and confirm their claim that this crime was unintentional," Baghaei added.

"We will certainly take whatever measures are necessary, both to hold Ukraine accountable and to ensure that such a mistake and crime is not committed again by the Ukrainian side."

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has held a second round of phone calls with Saudi and Pakistani leaders in 24 hours, according to Iran's foreign ministry.

Araghchi spoke to his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Pakistan's chief of staff, Gen. Asim Munir, the ministry said on Sunday.

"The parties reviewed and exchanged views on the latest diplomatic efforts and initiatives aimed at preserving and strengthening security and stability in the West Asia region," the ministry added, without giving specifics.

Iran said Monday that its only current negotiations are with Oman to discuss the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

Denying President Trump's claim that the U.S. and Iran would restart negotiations on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said: "Our negotiations are with Oman and are focused on reaching an understanding on a route that will ensure the safe passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz."

"Our goal is to determine, as soon as possible and in consultation with Oman, a route that will likely be temporary and will enable safe maritime navigation through the Strait," he added. 

The two countries have had "constructive discussions over the past eight days regarding reaching an agreement on a new route," he said, which would have "both an inbound and outbound route, not two or three separate routes."

"This middle route is intended to be used temporarily until an agreement is reached on a permanent route," he said.

Iran has insisted that ships navigating through the waterway should use a route designated by them after requesting permission and paying service fees.

Tehran's stranglehold on the strategic waterway — through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed before the war — has put pressure on President Trump: Rising energy prices have hurt Americans at the pump and made the war unpopular, but walking away now, without any real gains from the conflict, would make the president look weak.

Baqaei said Sunday that the status quo in the strait "will in no way return to the status it was before February 28th," the day the war started.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaein said at a press conference Monday that Tehran had no plans to hold direct talks with Washington.

"To avoid any misunderstanding, it is important to clarify what the current negotiations are about and who they are with. We are not negotiating with the United States at this time," Baghein said.

"Our negotiations are with Oman and are focused on reaching an understanding on a route that will ensure the safe passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

President Trump said Sunday that negotiations with Iran were set to begin Monday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump elaborated on the decision to hold off on attacks on Iran and again said it would have been the "biggest attacks since World War II."

"It would have been disastrous for them and they didn't want us to do it," he said. "The deal is imminent, having to do with the Hormuz Strait and also, ultimately, the denuclearization of Iran."  

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz "will in no way return to the status it was before February 28th," the day the war started.

On a call with Iranian state TV, he added that Iran is discussing shipping through the strait with Oman, on the other side of Hormuz, but that there's no current talk about reopening the crucial waterway.

President Trump has announced halts to strikes on Iran on several occasions since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, only for things to unravel and fighting to resume again.

Iran's defense minister said on X that the country was "neither surprised nor passive" following Mr. Trump's announcement that he had called off new strikes on Iran and said the Islamic Republic remains alert in the face of concrete threats from the U.S.

While Iran's leaders appear united in a war strategy signaling strength and endurance, a struggle for control seems to be brewing within the theocracy's leadership between those who oppose all negotiations with the U.S. and others who count on military pressure to win at the negotiating table. 

The Associated Press

President Trump said Sunday that negotiations with Iran are set to begin Monday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump elaborated on  his decision to hold off attacks on Iran and again said they would have been the "biggest attacks since World War II."

"It would have been disastrous for them and they didn't want us to do it," he said. "The deal is imminent, having to do with the Hormuz Strait and also, ultimately, the denuclearization of Iran."

The president confirmed he spoke with Saudi Arabia's crown prince who, according to Mr. Trump, told the president he'd prefer to make a deal with Iran.

The president said Saturday he canceled the attack on Iran because a rough framework of a deal had been reached.

"We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters [sic] of a deal has been agreed to," Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Mr. Trump said the deal "would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran's nuclear threat."  

Multiple sources Friday had told CBS News that the U.S. and Israel were preparing to conduct a powerful joint bombing campaign on energy infrastructure targets in Iran.

Read more here.

In his first month on the job, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised it "would be the most transparent administration ever," offering a sharp contrast with the previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that critics said had been shrouded in secrecy and misleading public statements.

Now, as the American-led war against Iran enters its sixth month, the administration is offering the public less information about the conflict and its direction, even as the costs continue to mount.

More than 50,000 American troops remain deployed in the Middle East.  Some 18 U.S. service members are dead, and hundreds more are injured or wounded. Mr. Trump has launched several efforts at diplomacy with Iran, most recently this weekend. And Congress has been asked to approve another $67 billion to cover the costs of the campaign.

Yet Pentagon press briefings to reporters and the public have largely disappeared — the last one was in early May.

Read more here.