Iranian media denies talks with U.S., POTUS says they need ‘better public relations people’
The president has said that talks between Iran and the United States will continue over the next five days. Iranian media has roundly denied that any such talks are happening.
by Summer Lane | March 23, 2026
As Iranian media mouthpieces deny that diplomatic discussions are happening with the United States, President Donald Trump has suggested that the regime needs to run a better communications campaign.
“They’re going to have to get themselves better public relations people,” the president remarked when asked about the Iranian media’s claims.
He continued, “We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have points, major points of agreement, I would say almost all points of agreement. Perhaps that hasn’t been conveyed. The communication, as you know, has been blown to pieces. They were unable to talk to each other – but we’ve had very strong talks, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner had them.”
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are both U.S. special envoys who have been acting as key negotiators in the Middle East on behalf of the Trump administration.
Early Monday morning, President Trump revealed that his threat to raze Iranian energy infrastructure to the ground – pending the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz – had been postponed for five days, amid “GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”
The Iranian media has broadly denied that such talks are taking place. For example, an official X account slated for breaking news issued by Iran’s IRNA News Agency claimed on Monday morning, “Contrary to what Trump claims, there are no ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States. Indirect messages have reached Iran, but they do not include any proposals of value or worthy of consideration. Moreover, the channel for sending these one-sided messages has been ongoing since the beginning of the war.”
This account also claimed that the “five-day deadline” was a “trick to lower Iran’s level of alertness” and said that the Strait of Hormuz would continue to remain closed to passage.
Further, the Speaker of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, also denied diplomatic talks with the United States.
“Our people demand the complete and humiliating punishment of the aggressors,” he wrote on X in a translated statement. “All officials stand firmly behind their Leader and people until this goal is achieved. No negotiations with America have taken place. Fake news is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped.”
As reported by LindellTV, the Israeli Air Force announced that it was engaged in striking Tehran again on Monday, amid these alleged negotiations. It’s unclear what effect, if any, this could have on these talks.
