I want to give last chance before beheading, says Trump about Iran

"The Iranian leadership is unbelievably duplicitous. They ask for a meeting - some would say they 'beg' - talks begin, with others already scheduled for the immediate future, and then they openly and proudly say that they are not having any conservation [with the US]," said the Republican in a post on Truth Social. Trump also said that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains in place and will continue until there is an agreement or the "total surrender" of the Islamic Republic.

Hours later, the American stated that negotiations "are taking place" and argued that "this is the last chance for them to sign a good document" of agreement. “I hope Iran comes to its senses,” Trump said. The statements come after Tehran stated earlier on Monday that there are no ongoing negotiations with Washington, contradicting Trump's statements made a day earlier.

On Sunday (2), the American president stated that a new round of negotiations with Tehran would begin this Monday and that, therefore, he had suspended new attacks against the Persian country.

Over the weekend, the Republican repeated a pattern that has been consolidating in recent months of conflict. Trump announces plans to launch an offensive against Iran, only to back down at the last moment.

"I'm not looking to kill people," Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday. "Right now, what we are doing is talking to them, in the form of a negotiation. This starts tomorrow afternoon," he said, without giving further details of the supposed conversations.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied the claim on Monday. According to him, Tehran has no plans to receive foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days.

Baghaei added that all Iranian negotiators are currently in the country, with the exception of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq. The only ongoing conversations, according to him, are with Oman about the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

On several occasions, Trump has threatened to resort to military action only to later cite diplomatic contacts as a reason to back down. This time, it was no different. The president threatened to attack Iran "very hard," but the president backtracked, saying the framework for a deal was already on the table.

"At the moment, we are not negotiating with the United States. Our negotiations are with Oman to guarantee passage through the Strait of Hormuz," Baqhaei told reporters, denying Trump's statements.

Hormuz became one of the main obstacles in efforts to end the conflict. Iran closed this route, firing at commercial ships that tried to break the blockade. Before the war, passage through the strait was free, but now Tehran insists on maintaining control and charging tolls, something Washington rejects.

Baqhaei told state television that an agreement with Oman was close to being concluded

Iran has publicly rejected any negotiations with Washington since a June memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict collapsed last month.

Trump has not yet achieved the goals he set at the start of the war: dismantling Iran's nuclear program, reducing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating the conditions for the Iranians to overthrow their clerical government.

The successive escalations promoted by the US were responded to by increasingly intense actions by Iran against American forces in the region, Washington's Arab allies in the Gulf and commercial vessels, ending, on each occasion, with a retreat by Trump.

The dispute over Hormuz remains one of the main points of conflict. Washington has so far failed to force Iran to give up its control over that route, which has raised global oil prices and put pressure on U.S. gasoline prices, a sensitive topic for American domestic police.

The most recent incident in the region was recorded during the early hours of Monday, when the British maritime safety body UKMTO reported that the captain of a vessel reported an explosion in the water near the ship. There were no injuries.