The current state of affairs between Washington and Tehran has reached a critical juncture with regard to a crisis situation in the Middle East. This situation is causing significant challenges to long-standing diplomatic initiatives aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Indirect negotiations and dialogue via regional players have shown a great degree of mistrust between the two nations. However, leaders around the world have warned of an increased chance of destabilizing the region if these negotiations fail. Behind the scenes of political rhetoric and military posturing, a new evolution of diplomatic negotiations is taking place.
Speaking in a live television interview on Tuesday, as carried by Iran’s government-owned news agency IRNA, Iran’s new military adviser and former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohsen Rezaei, declared, “The final deadlines for saving America are approaching.” He went on to warn US President Donald Trump that he has “not much time left to rescue the United States from this quagmire.”
Rezaei threatened that Iran would “paralyze” the United States and “sink” its ships in the Arabian Gulf, thus giving Trump a “deadline” to save America.
#IranWar Speaker of Iran’s parliament tweets the first official reaction to Trumps claims. ‘No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.
Iranian… https://t.co/M5Ye538vBW
— Shereen Bhan (@ShereenBhan) March 23, 2026
Rezaei said, “If you attack the infrastructure of the Islamic Republic of Iran, our response will no longer be an eye for an eye, but rather a head for an eye; we will paralyze you and drown you in the Gulf,” as reported by The Daily Beast.
Rezaei said that the US and Israel have had enmity towards the Islamic Republic for over 47 years and even helped former dictator Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran, claiming that since then, the two countries, Israel and the US, have been plotting against Iran.
He said Israel influenced the Trump administration’s involvement in the conflict with a vision of Greater Israel and that Trump now faces conflicting advice from U.S. commanders and Israel. He described the war as illegal and said that the war in Iran will not end until all sanctions are lifted, damages compensated, and there is an international legal guarantee that the aggression against Iran will not be repeated.
The development marked the first public signal of a possible easing of tensions since the conflict entered its fourth week, while Iranian state media responded to the development by asserting that the US president had stepped back due to concerns over potential Iranian retaliation.
Trump said on Monday via Truth Social that Washington and Tehran had initiated constructive and productive discussions focused on resolving the intensifying Middle East conflict, adding that he had instructed a five-day postponement of planned strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure to allow talks to proceed.
He said the United States had reached a peak in its forceful policy, citing threats toward Canada and Greenland and actions in Venezuela that led to the capture of former President Nicolas Maduro. In a statement posted on his social media platform, Trump said that the talks held were detailed and constructive, and that he had ordered the Department of Defense to hold back on strikes against Iranian energy sites for five days, depending on the progress of the ongoing engagements.
2/ No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.
— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) March 23, 2026
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, rejected the claim in posts on social media, stating that no discussions had taken place with the United States and that false reports were being used to influence financial and oil markets while allowing Washington and Israel to manage the situation. He said the Iranian public is demanding firm and consequential action against those responsible, adding that officials remain united with the country’s leadership and people until that aim is fulfilled. Iranian officials have characterized reports of negotiations as fabricated.
