Trump says new Iran negotiations starting: What we know

Published 3 August 2026 · us

Analysts say deal on Hormuz might be achievable but lasting peace agreement still far off. United States President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that

Analysts say deal on Hormuz might be achievable but lasting peace agreement still far off. United States President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that an agreement with Iran is imminent and new talks were set to begin on Monday. But at a news conference on Monday, an Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said: “We are not going to host a delegation or be guests of a country during these days.” Here is what we know so far about the prospect of new negotiations What has Trump said? As he was returning to Washington, DC, from a weekend in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump told reporters that new negotiations were to begin on Monday after calling off what he said would have been “massive strikes” on Iran. He did not provide any details about where the talks would be taking place or who would participate. When reporters asked the US president if there was a deadline for an agreement with Iran, he declined to answer. Instead, he responded: “Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to kill people because people die, a lot of people die, and we don’t want that.” On Monday, Trump again said an attack that the US had planned against Iran would have been the “biggest attack since World War II” but he had decided to call it off. “And the deal is imminent, having to do with the Hormuz Strait and ultimately the denuclearisation of Iran,” Trump said. Are negotiations taking place, and who is taking part? Reporting from the Qatari capital, Doha, on Monday, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said that just before Trump’s announcement, an unnamed source had hinted that mediators were ready to fly to Tehran, where an indirect negotiation session would be held. Bin Javaid added that the talks would likely first focus on ongoing discussions between Iran and Oman for a deal on control of the critical Strait of Hormuz.

He reported: “There are going to be intermediaries. We’re hearing from our sources that the Pakistani interior minister and especially the Qataris are going to be sending emissaries so that this can take place as soon as possible.” “We don’t know the specific details, but we do know something is in the making,” he reported. On Monday, however, Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said: “We are not going to host a delegation or be guests of a country during these days.” It was unclear if the spokesman was referring to direct talks only, meaning that indirect talks via mediators could go ahead. Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said: “Indeed, Iran is talking to the Omanis. They are saying that all these talks are focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and on finding measures and trajectories to do so. “Iran is [conducting the talks] in a bilateral way, denying any potential foreign intervention in that regard.” Is a peace deal really ‘imminent’? Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera on Monday that Trump’s repeated escalations and then cancellations of attacks on Iran have harmed prospects for a negotiated settlement to the war. “I think this has become somewhat of a tiresome pattern,” he said. “At some point, all credibility for negotiations is going to be lost. The credibility of actually sticking to a deal is questionable. The credibility of any incentives that are offered is questionable. And obviously, the credibility of the threats is degraded.” Alan Eyre, a distinguished diplomatic fellow with the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera the only important talks taking place right now are those between Iran and Oman about the Strait of Hormuz. He explained that Iran has decided it is not worth talking directly to the US because it “can’t count on anything the US says”.