Iran denies direct negotiations with U.S., says American demands 'excessive'

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday denied any participation in direct negotiations with the United States, saying that the ongoing discussions in Pakistan were part of a regional effort to draft a framework without Iranian input.

“We have had no direct negotiations with the United States so far,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Monday. “The meetings that Pakistan holds with neighboring countries are within a framework they have designed themselves, and we have not participated in this framework."

President Donald Trump, for his part, has repeatedly touted the success of negotiations with the Iranian regime, though he has repeatedly presented threats of escalation if they did not make major concessions.

Despite Iran's public denials of serious negotiations and Tehran's refusal to make major concessions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that Iran has been more cordial in private.

“You have people over there that are saying some of the right things privately,” Rubio told ABC. “Obviously, they’re not going to put it out in press releases, and what they say to you or put out there for the world doesn’t necessarily reflect what they’re saying in our conversations.”

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.