Washington and Tehran appeared to inch closer towards a possible agreement on Monday, even as Iran insisted that the current round of negotiations is focused primarily on ending the conflict rather than discussing technical details of its nuclear programme.
Speaking in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said the ongoing talks are presently centred on halting the war, according to Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency.
The remarks come at a time when both the US and Iran are publicly signalling cautious optimism around diplomacy, even as tensions continue to simmer across West Asia. The latest developments also mark a sharp shift in tone after weeks of military escalation, threats over the Strait of Hormuz, and repeated warnings from Tehran against any fresh American action.
“The focus of the negotiations is on ending the war, and at this stage, we are not discussing details of the nuclear issue,” Baqaei said, as quoted by ISNA.
Hours earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that negotiations between the two sides were moving forward, though he stressed that no final breakthrough had been achieved yet.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Rubio told reporters, adding that discussions included efforts to reopen strategic waterways and launch “a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters.”
He also underlined that President Donald Trump would not agree to what he described as a weak or rushed agreement with Tehran.
“As the president said, he’s not in a hurry, he’s not going to make a bad deal. We’re going to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we explore the alternatives,” Rubio said.
“We’re either going to have a good agreement or we’re going to have to deal with it another way. We’d prefer to have a good agreement,” he added.
What Trump said on Iran negotiations
Trump, meanwhile, used his Truth Social platform on Sunday to draw a contrast between the negotiations currently underway and the nuclear deal signed during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote.
“Our deal is the exact opposite,” he added, while also saying that negotiations were still incomplete.
According to CBS News, citing a senior Trump administration official, negotiators from both countries have already agreed to the broad principles of a possible agreement. The report said Iran had, in principle, accepted terms involving the disposal of highly enriched uranium.
Trump also reiterated on Sunday that Washington would not “rush into a deal” and said the US blockade on Iranian ports would continue until a formal agreement is signed and certified.
Iran warns against fresh US military action
Even as diplomatic channels remain open, senior Iranian officials continued to issue warnings against any renewed military escalation.
Mohsen Rezaei, senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Tehran’s nuclear programme remained peaceful and under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring.
He also warned that Iran could withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and challenge any naval blockade imposed by the United States if attacks resume.
“Our fingers are on the trigger,” Rezaei said while referring to possible action against any aggression targeting Iran.
He further claimed that the IRGC Navy was overseeing movement through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure security and free trade in the strategic waterway.