President Donald Trump said in a satya social post On Monday, after talks with Iranian officials, he ordered US forces to suspend attacks on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.
“We are very willing to make a deal with Iran,” he told CNBC’s Joe Kernan in a phone call shortly after the post.
However, Iranian state media cited an unnamed “senior security official” as saying post on telegram Trump disputed the details of the conversation, saying there were no direct or indirect talks between Washington and Tehran.
“There have been no negotiations and no negotiations, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither will the Strait of Hormuz return to its pre-war state nor will there be peace in the energy markets,” state media quoted the official as saying.
Trump countered that the most recent conversation between U.S. negotiators and their Iranian counterparts took place on Sunday night, according to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, describing a Monday morning phone call with the president.
“When I asked about Iranian TV saying there were no negotiations, they said, ‘It’s hard to get any information there, because the US is destroying so much of their infrastructure,'” Bartiromo said on air.
According to Bartiromo, Trump said that his son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff had participated in the talks with Iran. “Iran wants to make a deal badly,” he said.
Trump previously said in a Truth Social post that the US and Iran had “a very good and productive conversation regarding the complete and comprehensive resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”
The US President said that these talks will continue throughout the week. It was not immediately clear who took part in the talks or when and where they were held.
US stock futures, dollar rose fell Against other major currencies, and oil prices fell on the news.
Speaking to Kernan, Trump said the discussions with Iranian officials had been very thorough and that he was hopeful something concrete could be accomplished.
Kernan said that the US President also echoed the call that what is happening in Iran can be described as regime change.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for additional information about the alleged talks, and also did not immediately respond to Iran’s claim that no such talks are underway.
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on March 23, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Roberto Schmidt getty images
The US President on Saturday issued a 48-hour ultimatum for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on Iran’s power plants.
The narrow waterway is a major sea corridor that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. About 20% of global oil and gas typically passes through it.
The deadline was set to expire on Monday evening in Washington.
Iranian parliament spokesman Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Persian Gulf region could be “irreversibly destroyed” if Iranian power plants were attacked.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has come to a near halt since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting ships trying to pass through the strait, with several incidents reported in recent weeks.
The Iran war has stoked global inflation fears and is the biggest supply disruption in the history of the oil market, according to the International Energy Agency.
— CNBC’s Annick Bao and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.