US President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran have agreed to continue talks despite this week's escalation of hostilities, while declaring that the ceasefire reached between the two sides last month has ended.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran asked us to continue 'talks'. We agreed to do so, but the US told them, in clear terms, that the Ceasefire Is Over!" the President said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Tehran disputes the account
Iran challenged the statement, saying it did not request talks with the US but agreed to accept a Qatari mediator, Iranian state television reported. Qatari negotiators were meeting officials in Iran on Friday with the aim of de-escalating tensions and holding talks on the Strait of Hormuz, a person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Tehran also warned that any violation of Washington's commitments would be met with "reciprocal actions", according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, quoted by state media. American officials, meanwhile, said talks between the two countries had been productive in recent days.
A week of renewed hostilities
Mr Trump's remarks came on a day of relative calm at the end of a week of fresh fighting, after three commercial tankers belonging to Qatar and Saudi Arabia came under fire, prompting US strikes on Iranian facilities and Iranian retaliation against American military installations in Gulf states.
At least 17 people were killed in US strikes on six Iranian cities on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the head of the public relations and information centre at Iran's Health Ministry, who added that 115 people were wounded.
No attacks were reported on Friday, as regional mediators sought to salvage diplomatic efforts to bring a definitive end to the war that began on 28 February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz at the centre of diplomacy
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Oman on Saturday to discuss arrangements for the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's semi-official news agency reported, citing the Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
The US is demanding that Iran publicly declare it will halt attacks on shipping in the Strait and that all routes will remain open toll-free through the waterway, which carried one fifth of global oil supplies before the war, senior US officials said on Friday.
Washington intensified those demands on Friday, as the recent hostilities have driven up oil prices, a politically sensitive issue for Mr Trump ahead of the congressional midterm elections in November. After weeks of steady declines, crude prices recorded their biggest weekly rise in eight weeks, adding to the burden on American consumers.
Reported plot and funeral tensions
The Wall Street Journal and other American media reported this week that Israel passed intelligence to Washington indicating Iran had recently prepared a plan to assassinate Mr Trump.
At Thursday's funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some among the vast crowds carried banners reading "We will kill Trump". Khamenei was killed in an air strike on the first day of the war in Iran.
Five months of conflict
The interim agreement reached last month was intended to pave the way for ending the conflict, now in its fifth month, which has claimed thousands of lives, disrupted global energy supplies and raised fears of a worldwide economic recession.
