White House denies Trump's claim of further Iran talks as Tehran says earlier deal has collapsed

Iran says the earlier deal has collapsed and its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz have hardened. Trump calls a recent meeting productive, but the White House says no further session is scheduled.

Iran says the earlier deal has collapsed, and its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz have hardened since then. State media says the Strait will reopen only if a naval blockade is lifted immediately, frozen Iranian assets are released immediately, and the war ends "across all resistance fronts."

Trump says a US official met Iran's delegation for 3 hours in a meeting that went very well, and that Steve Witkoff feels very good about it. The White House has denied Trump's claim that another meeting is scheduled. Trump has also said Jared Kushner and Witkoff met Iranian mediators, that Iran is in contact with the US, and that he expects a settlement. Iran's president is in New York, and Arab mediators are pushing for a direct US-Iran meeting there, but none has been scheduled.

The contacts have included senior officials on both sides. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met Witkoff on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Iran's state media says that meeting came after repeated requests from the United States. Qatar's prime minister sat in for most of a pre-planned session between US representatives and the Iranian team, according to US sources cited by Israel Hayom. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, also met Araghchi.

Tehran has paired that outreach with harder rhetoric. Its state media describes its negotiating conditions as strict. The Revolutionary Guard has sharpened its language, and parliament has proposed a 20 per cent transit fine for ships passing through Hormuz. An Iranian official said Tehran is ready to escalate if attacked. Iran will also halt flights from Tehran to Baghdad and Muscat, according to Tasnim, though international routes including Istanbul continue.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a nuclear-armed Iran could threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz and use that threat to deter other countries from intervening against it.

The US has separately proposed a $10 billion fund with Arab allies as a hedge if the Strait stays closed.

Iran's demand to end fighting on every front it considers a resistance front sits well beyond the incremental steps the talks have suggested. The gap between Trump's optimism and Tehran's harder line, and the White House's denial of further meetings, keeps the near-term odds of a deal low. Geopolitical risk stays elevated for energy markets.