US President Donald Trump on Monday denied a report that he was prepared to offer Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in exchange for concessions on its nuclear programme.
The report was published in English by Axios and in Hebrew by Israel’s Channel 12, reports Times of Israel.
Trump later rejected the report on Truth Social, calling it “untrue”.
“I offered them NOTHING!” he wrote.
Axios reported that Trump “is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release Iranian frozen funds in return for concrete Iranian steps regarding the nuclear program.” The report cited unnamed US officials.
The 80-year-old Republican described the report as “a HOAX” and said Axios should withdraw it.
Trump’s denial came as US and Iranian officials held separate discussions with Qatari mediators on Monday in a renewed effort to end seven months of war.
Further talks are expected to centre on an amended version of a seven-day proposal Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who remained in New York after attending the General Assembly, said Tehran expected a US response to its latest ceasefire proposals and its conditions for restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA.
“If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution,” Araghchi said.
Trump told reporters at the White House that US officials had separately spoken with mediators on Monday but gave no further details.
Under Iran’s seven-day proposal, all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon would end. The plan also calls for billions of dollars in Iranian assets to be unfrozen, sanctions on Iranian oil to be lifted and the US blockade on Iranian ports to end.
In return, Iran would allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. The two sides would also resume negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and Trump’s demand that Tehran’s highly enriched uranium be seized or eliminated.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected Iran’s proposal, arguing that Tehran was seeking a quick agreement because of the severe economic pressure it faces. However, he told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to hold further talks this week.
Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally communicated a US rejection and that Iran was waiting for Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he said, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the deadlock.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz remains central to the conflict. The narrow waterway normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
Tehran has effectively blockaded the route since the war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
Gas and other product prices in the US have risen sharply since the conflict began, as Trump faces declining support in national polls and his Republican Party worries about losing its majority in Congress in the November midterm elections.
