Iran denies US-Iran talks, calls reports market management
Iran's denial contradicts recent reports of technical negotiations in New York, according to Fars.
Published
Iran denied reports of US-Iran talks on Friday, with Fars calling them market management.
The denial contradicts earlier reports that talks had entered a detailed phase. A senior Iranian source said Tehran and Washington have traded messages tying access through the Strait of Hormuz to an easing of sanctions and siege conditions. A senior Iranian official said Tehran could return to a memorandum of understanding with Washington, a shift from weeks of hard-line statements.
Other Iranian statements have pointed the other way. An Iranian official told Reuters the Strait of Hormuz will stay shut until Iran's conditions are met, and that Iran will hold no nuclear talks with the US and make no concessions on its nuclear programme. Centcom said it has redirected 122 vessels enforcing the Iran blockade. A US official said Washington is in a strong position and controls the Hormuz Strait.
Iran's denial signals hardened rhetoric just as talks appeared to be entering a detailed phase, and it leaves open whether discussions continue or have stalled. That uncertainty keeps oil markets in a holding pattern, after crude lost ground on hopes of a US-Iran truce.