'Fake News': Trump Says US-Iran Talks Never Stopped, Issues Ultimatum - 'It's Time To Make A Deal'
US President has pushed back sharply against reports that negotiations with Iran have broken down, insisting the two sides have spoken every day this week
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Dismissing reports of a diplomatic rupture as "fake news," Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday, to insist that US-Iran communications have been continuous — even as the broader diplomatic picture surrounding the war grows increasingly complicated.
"Fake News Reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the U.S.A., stopped speaking a few days ago are false and erroneous," Trump wrote.
"The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today."
The post came hours after two semi-official Iranian news agencies reported that Tehran had halted contact with mediators, a move the agencies attributed to Israeli threats to bomb Beirut amid ongoing fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Trump acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the talks but framed that uncertainty as Iran's problem to resolve.
"Where they lead, one never knows," he wrote, before delivering a pointed ultimatum: "It's time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal.
You've been doing this for 47 years, and it cannot be allowed to go on any longer."
Rubio's Testimony Adds Context
Trump's post followed testimony earlier Tuesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his first public appearance before Congress since the Trump administration launched the war against Iran, in which Rubio described a meaningful, if uncertain, shift in Iranian negotiating posture.
Rubio told senators that Iran had agreed to discuss aspects of its nuclear program it had previously refused to put on the table, characterizing the development as significant while cautioning it was no guarantee of a deal.
He argued that the US-led military campaign had dismantled Iran's strategy of building a "conventional shield," an arsenal of missiles and drones intended to make any action against its nuclear program prohibitively costly.
"They still have a lot of drones," Rubio acknowledged, noting they are "easy to make," tempering his assessment of how much damage the campaign had inflicted.
The dueling signals, Trump insisting talks are active, Iranian agencies reporting a breakdown, and Rubio describing cautious progress, reflect the volatile and fast-moving nature of the diplomacy surrounding the conflict.
On Monday, Iran threatened to withdraw from negotiations with Washington entirely in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanon, only for Trump to announce hours later that a comprehensive ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel was in place. Bombardment on both sides has since continued.
Trump's message on Tuesday appeared designed both to reassure domestic audiences that diplomacy remains viable and to pressure Tehran publicly ahead of what he framed as a historic decision point.