Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rejected reports on Monday, 24 March 2026, that the Islamic Republic of Iran had entered into any negotiations with the United States of America, describing the claims as deliberate disinformation designed to manipulate global financial and energy markets. Ghalibaf, writing on the social media platform X, stated that no negotiations had been held with the United States and that fabricated reports were being used to manipulate financial and oil markets and help the United States and Israel escape a strategic quagmire of their own making.
Ghalibaf added that the Iranian people demand the complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors, and that all Iranian officials stand firmly behind Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the people until those objectives are achieved. The statement placed Ghalibaf at the centre of a sharp confrontation between Washington’s publicly declared diplomatic optimism and Tehran’s equally public posture of defiance, and it produced immediate and dramatic movement in global equity and energy markets.
The Iranian Parliament Speaker’s remarks came within hours of United States President Donald Trump telling reporters that Washington and Tehran had held constructive conversations over the preceding two days and that the United States government would pause planned military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period. Trump said that United States Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner conducted the talks, which Trump stated began on Saturday night, and that the two sides had reached major points of agreement on almost all outstanding issues. Trump told reporters he had not spoken with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and acknowledged he did not know whether Khamenei was alive, but described his interlocutor as the most respected figure in the Iranian government. He declined to name the individual, stating he did not want that person to be killed.
How Israeli media identified Ghalibaf as Washington’s Iranian interlocutor and what his role means for the war effort
Israeli media subsequently identified Ghalibaf as the senior Iranian official with whom Witkoff and Kushner had reportedly been in contact. Ghalibaf is a former general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a former mayor of Tehran, and a close associate of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. He played a central role in managing Iran’s war effort during the earlier twelve-day conflict in June 2025 and is currently regarded as the most senior civilian official in Iran’s active decision-making circle. His institutional standing makes him a credible interlocutor for any de-escalation effort, and his public and categorical denial of negotiations carries particular significance precisely because of that seniority.
Days before his denial, Ghalibaf had himself warned publicly that any United States strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure would result in the irreversible destruction of critical energy and oil facilities across the region. That he is now the figure rejecting claims of ongoing dialogue underscores the distance between Washington’s narrative of diplomatic progress and Tehran’s posture of continued military defiance.
Why Iran’s Foreign Ministry and state-affiliated media rejected the United States account of diplomatic engagement
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei also denied that any direct discussions with the United States had taken place, while acknowledging that messages had been received from friendly countries relaying a United States request for negotiations. Baghaei stated that Iran had responded in line with its principled positions and issued warnings about the severe consequences of any attack on Iran’s vital infrastructure. He stressed that any action targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure would be met with a decisive, immediate, and effective response from Iranian armed forces.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a formal institutional rejection of the United States claims, stating there were no ongoing negotiations and describing Trump’s statements as an attempt to lower energy prices and buy time for further military operations. The ministry acknowledged that regional countries were working to reduce tensions but drew a clear distinction between regional mediation efforts and any direct engagement with Washington. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars News Agency reported that there had been no direct or indirect contact with the United States president. An unnamed senior Iranian security official quoted across Iranian state media outlets described Washington’s claims as psychological warfare and insisted Iran would neither reopen the Strait of Hormuz nor stabilise energy markets in response to what Tehran characterised as information operations.
How regional mediators Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan are facilitating message-passing between Washington and Tehran
Multiple sources confirm that Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan have been functioning as intermediaries, passing messages between the United States government and the Iranian government over the preceding two days. The foreign ministers of those three countries held separate discussions with Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held calls on Sunday with Witkoff, Araghchi, and his counterparts from Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar, with Egypt stressing the importance of containing the broader effects of the conflict.
An Israeli official said that mediating countries were attempting to convene an in-person meeting in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, potentially later in the current week. That proposed meeting would involve Ghalibaf and other Iranian officials representing Tehran, alongside Witkoff, Kushner, and possibly United States Vice President JD Vance representing Washington. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the United States had formally requested a meeting with Ghalibaf, but that Tehran had not yet responded. The official stated the proposed meeting would take place on Saturday and that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had not yet reviewed the request.
A source with knowledge of the discussions stated that there did not appear to have been any direct talks between Ghalibaf and the United States team at the time of Ghalibaf’s denial, suggesting the actual level of contact may fall substantially short of what Trump publicly described. The White House described the situation as fluid and stated the United States would not negotiate through the press.
What Trump’s five-day pause on strikes against Iranian power plants signals about the trajectory of the conflict
Trump directed the United States Department of Defense to postpone all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for at least a five-day period, subject to the success of ongoing meetings and discussions. The decision represented a significant reversal of a 48-hour ultimatum Trump had issued on Saturday evening, in which he threatened to destroy Iran’s largest power plant first if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully reopened to international shipping without conditions or threats. Iran had responded to Trump’s original ultimatum by warning that a strike on its power plants would result in the complete and indefinite closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the destruction of critical infrastructure and oil facilities throughout the broader region, including those of Gulf Arab nations hosting United States military bases.
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the Trump administration’s escalatory rhetoric, saying that Iran’s leadership only responds to that kind of language and that sometimes it is necessary to escalate in order to de-escalate.
The immediate reaction in global financial markets illustrated the stakes behind the competing accounts. United States stock futures surged sharply within minutes of Trump’s social media announcement of the pause. Brent crude oil prices dropped more than eleven percent before partially recovering. Reports indicated that the S&P 500 gained approximately two trillion United States dollars in value within minutes of Trump’s post, before Iranian denials introduced fresh uncertainty into markets that had been closely tracking every development in the conflict. Ghalibaf’s accusation that reports of negotiations were engineered specifically to move markets found a receptive audience among analysts and market observers monitoring the stark divergence between Washington’s claims and Tehran’s categorical rejections.
Why the Strait of Hormuz remains the central pressure point in the global energy crisis and international diplomatic efforts
The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is the world’s most critical maritime chokepoint for oil and gas transport. Roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption passes through the strait during peacetime. Shipping through the strait has been effectively suspended for commercial purposes since the early weeks of the war that began on 28 February 2026, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes across Iran. A leading shipping analyst noted that transiting through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to be off the table for the remainder of 2026 due to uncertainty and the security situation in the region, and that vessels would likely avoid other major chokepoints including the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Suez Canal, rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope instead.
United States Central Command commander Admiral Brad Cooper stated on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz was physically open but argued that commercial vessels were avoiding it because Iran was firing missiles and drones at ships in the area. Cooper said the United States military campaign in Iran was ahead of or on plan and that Iran’s military capabilities were deteriorating. Iran’s Defense Council stated on Monday that non-belligerent countries could only transit through the Strait of Hormuz through coordination with Iran, and warned that any attack on Iran’s coasts or islands would trigger mine-laying across Gulf sea lanes that could block maritime traffic beyond the narrow strait itself.
International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol warned that the global economy faces a major threat from the war’s disruption to oil and gas flows and that no country would be immune to the effects of the crisis if it continued in its current direction. A senior United Nations official said the world had already seen a ripple effect including exponential price hikes in oil, fuel, and gas that have had a far-reaching impact on millions of people, primarily in Asian and African developing countries.
The conflict has now entered its fourth week. It has killed more than 2,000 people, shaken the global economy, sent oil prices surging, and endangered some of the world’s busiest air corridors. The killing of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening wave of United States-Israeli strikes, and the subsequent elevation of his son Mojtaba Khamenei to the position of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has introduced significant uncertainty about the Iranian government’s decision-making authority and internal chain of command. United States officials have acknowledged difficulty in assessing who is exercising real authority in Tehran given the elimination of so many senior figures, with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remaining out of public view since the start of hostilities.
Trump himself noted during Monday’s remarks that the United States had, in his words, eliminated everything there is to eliminate in Iran, including leaders, and suggested that some form of regime transition may already be underway as a consequence. He pointed to Venezuela as a comparison, describing a scenario in which a United States-backed figure could emerge to lead Iran. Tehran has not responded to those remarks. Israel continued strikes on Iranian capital infrastructure on Monday, with the Israeli Air Force carrying out attacks on targets described as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Tehran.
Key takeaways on what the Ghalibaf denial means for Iran-United States diplomacy, global energy markets, and the trajectory of the war
- Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf flatly denied on 24 March 2026 that any negotiations had taken place between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, directly contradicting United States President Donald Trump’s public claims of productive talks, and both Iran’s Foreign Ministry and state-affiliated media issued parallel institutional rejections of Washington’s account.
- Trump announced a five-day pause on threatened strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure, citing diplomatic progress, but sources with direct knowledge of the discussions indicated that no direct talks had yet occurred between Ghalibaf and the United States team, with Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan acting as message-passing intermediaries rather than facilitators of direct contact.
- Mediating countries are attempting to arrange a formal in-person meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, between Iranian officials including Ghalibaf and United States officials including envoy Steve Witkoff, senior adviser Jared Kushner, and possibly Vice President JD Vance, though Tehran has not yet responded to the formal United States meeting request.
- Trump’s announcement of a diplomatic pause produced a sharp surge in United States equity markets and a significant drop in Brent crude oil prices within minutes, illustrating the direct and volatile connection between conflict developments and global financial markets; Iranian denials subsequently reintroduced uncertainty into those same markets.
- The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial shipping, the International Energy Agency has described the resulting disruption as the largest oil supply shock in the history of global energy markets, and Iran has warned that any strike on its power plants would trigger mine-laying across Gulf sea lanes and extend the closure indefinitely.
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