International

Iranian officials show defiance amid talk of negotiations

by Ashleigh Fields - 03/24/26 8:44 PM ET

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Multiple Iranian officials on Tuesday denounced negotiations with the Trump administration amid a push for a ceasefire in the region, despite President Trump’s characterization of the talks as “productive.”

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” Saeed Jalil, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the Supreme National Security Council’s Secretariat, said, according to a translation during Tuesday remarks.

Jalil said Iran’s “power has emerged” in the midst of a growing global call to swiftly end conflict in the Middle East.

On Monday, Trump announced a five-day pause on strikes targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure after a “productive” conversation with his counterparts in Tehran.

Iranian officials denied their negotiations with the White House and alleged “Trump backed down” from aggression due to bustling economic pressures from the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.

The blocked passageway has caused oil and gas prices to spike globally, although prices dropped slightly after Trump’s decision to pause strikes.

“We have experienced ‘negotiating with the bomb’ and ‘negotiating with terror.’ You, too, will experience ‘negotiating with the missile’ and ‘negotiating with a closed strait,” Iranian politician Hosamoddin Ashena wrote in a post on the social platform X.

Iran has argued the Trump administration violated international law by striking its energy facilities, a school site and other crucial facilities amid the war. Its leaders have also said the Feb. 28 offensive U.S. attack came in the midst of negotiations with the White House.

“International law is declining in practice; a reality stemming from the West’s double standards regarding Gaza, in relation to Ukraine, and its silence in the face of aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement Tuesday. “Nevertheless, Frank-Walter Steinmeier (President of Germany) must be commended for condemning the violation of the rights of Iranians—a stance that is rare among Western leaders.”

Tehran’s officials have continued to distance themselves from potential negotiations on Tuesday although mediators in Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have agreed to continue as mediators.

The Hill has reached out to Israeli, Turkish and U.S. officials on status of ceasefire request.

“The one who once spoke of regime change and the fragmentation of Iran now hopes that someone in Iran will engage in dialogue with him; though this, too, is merely an attempt at deception,” Jalil wrote in a post on X.

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