U.S. and Iranian leaders have provided conflicting reports about a potential ceasefire in the Middle East.
Human rights organisations, health ministries and militaries report 1,444 Iranian, 826 Lebanese, 15 Israeli and 13 U.S.deaths. These tolls include civilians and soldiers.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that Iran was seeking a ceasefire.
On Monday (AEDT), Trump repeated himself, saying Iran “want[s] to negotiate badly.”
Context
A key driver for the start of the war was a breakdown in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Iran’s nuclear capacity.
In June 2025, Israel announced it had attacked nuclear and military targets in Iran, citing concerns about progress toward a nuclear bomb.
Soon after, Trump announced the U.S. had bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.
Earlier this year, the U.S. and Iran ended a round of indirect talks to limit Iran’s nuclear capability.
While the mediator of those negotiations said “significant progress” had been made, no deal was reached.
Amid those talks, Trump said the U.S. would “have to make a meaningful deal” with Iran, “otherwise bad things happen.”
On 20 February, he suggested a 10-day window for the regime to respond.
The U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on 28 February.
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U.S. claims
On Saturday (local time), NBC News journalist Kristen Welker spoke to Trump, who reportedly claimed that Iran was“ready” to make a deal but “the terms aren’t good enough”.
Trump did not tell Welker details of the deal. He also said that Iran has been “defeated militarily”.
The President told Welker he believes that new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is dead, but did not provide evidence of this.
Iran response
On Sunday (local time), Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied Trump’s claims to CBS News, saying Iran “never asked for a ceasefire”.
Araghchi said they will only discuss ending the conflict when “Trump comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory”.
Referencing nuclear negotiations earlier this year, Araghchi said hedoes not “see any reason why we should talk with the Americans, because we were talking to them when they decided to attack us”.
What’s next?
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told CNN that Israel and the U.S. have “plans” for the next three weeks, as well as “deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that”.
In a post to X, Araghchi said Iranian forces “will keep firing” until Trump “realises that illegal war he’s imposing... is wrong and must never be repeated.”
Aboard Air Force One on Monday (AEDT), Trump told reporters: “[Iran] want to negotiate but I don’t think they are ready”. He later said Iran “is known for a lot of fake news.”
