Iran says no current negotiations with US

TEHRAN, July 27 (Agencies): Iran's foreign ministry on Monday said it was not currently involved in negotiations with the United States, despite a halt in recent fighting between the two sides.
"Mediators may convey messages from the American side to us regarding current developments in the region. But at present, we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States," ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
"Claims that Iran has requested negotiations are fabrications that the other side circulates from time to time," he added.
Hostilities resumed between Iran and the United States earlier this month after diplomatic efforts collapsed amid an impasse regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
Baqaei criticized the United States, saying its conduct in recent years has "resembled that of a mafia gang that adheres to no rules or laws."
"So long as such behavior by the United States continues, we cannot be hopeful about the emergence of a reasonable process," he added.
The United States and Iran paused their attacks for a second straight day on Sunday, as efforts continued to bring them back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire, as Donald Trump's UN envoy said the president was "giving talks some space."
Iran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against Washington's allies in the Middle East, and US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told "Fox News Sunday" that, while forces remained "locked and loaded," Trump would give negotiations "a little bit of room."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy stopped six vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through routes not approved by Iranian authorities, state television reported on Monday.
"Last night, six vessels that attempted to transit through a route other than the designated one were stopped by the IRGC Navy with warning shots and turned back," a state television correspondent reported from the Gulf.
Meanwhile, the United States paused strikes on Iran on Friday after nearly two weeks of bombardments, including in the Strait of Hormuz, since the Islamabad-brokered ceasefire unravelled.
Since then, Washington has not carried out attacks targeting Iran, bringing Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on US military assets and infrastructure in countries in the region to a halt.
Although US President Donald Trump has denied it, media reports there said Washington may be running low on air defence interceptors, while pressure is mounting on both sides to give diplomacy another chance amid heightened stakes.
Here’s what we know about why the US has halted its attacks and what is happening in diplomatic channels.
Despite the sudden lull in the exchange of strikes, the Strait of Hormuz – the critical waterway that has emerged as one of the biggest flashpoints in this war – remains closed.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported that six ships had attempted to pass through an “illegal and unsafe” route in the south of the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Monday after turning off their navigation and positioning systems.
One vessel suffered an unspecified accident, IRIB said, while the others returned to the Gulf under “decisive Iranian management”. It quoted an official who blamed the US military for “provoking” the ships to sail on the unauthorised route.