President Donald Trump said on Monday his envoys have been in indirect discussions with their Iranian counterparts over Iran's nuclear program.
Trump declined to share details in remarks to reporters, only adding that the US and Iranian envoys are speaking through mediators. "We're going to win," Trump said.
Diplomatic contacts between Iran and the US, through the mediation of Qatar and Pakistan, have continued even during the period of direct US-Iranian hostilities. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who held a more formal indirect discussion with US envoys on 15 September, remains in New York, attending meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
But US-Iranian discussions are more likely focused on the status of the strait of Hormuz, rather than Iran's nuclear program.
Tehran last week said it would be ready to allow free transit of vessels through the strait of Hormuz if the US lifted the naval blockade of Iranian trade and repatriated all frozen Iranian assets, among other conditions. Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House over the weekend, said he rejected the Iranian proposal.
"Although we heard from President Trump that he's rejecting this deal … we are still waiting for an official response through the mediators," Araghchi told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.
"We are ready for diplomacy," Araghchi said. "There is a very reasonable plan on the table. If they reject it for no reason, this is their fault."
Trump, in a social media post on Monday, denied an Axios report that he offered "Sanctions Relief and Frozen Funds to Iran."
Trump has previously said that Iran is waiting for the outcome of the 3 November midterm congressional elections, claiming that a victory for the US Democrats would give Iran the hope to reject his demands.
"We don't care about US midterm elections," Araghchi said. "We don't care about any other things. We care about our national interests."
The US naval blockade has cut off exports of Iranian crude since mid-July, even though some Iranian crude in floating storage can still reach independent refiners in China. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday told Fox News that only 15mn bl of Iranian crude remained on board of tankers capable of discharging Iranian crude in China, adding that "probably within the next two weeks, they are going to make their final deliveries of oil to China, and then they will have nothing."
Vessel transit through the strait of Hormuz rose to 45 on 26-27 September, according to data released on Monday from maritime security firm Windward. Traffic on Sunday was 17pc of the pre-war average of 135 daily transits, an increase from last week's levels.
