President Donald Trump said the U.S. government is negotiating with Iran’s parliament speaker to end the Iran war and potentially reopen the Strait of Hormuz, although Iranian officials have denied that any direct talks have taken place.

In an interview with the New York Post published on Monday, Trump said his administration communicated with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard commander.

When asked whether Ghalibaf would work with the United States, Trump said, “We’re going to find out. I’ll let you know that in about a week.”

Ghalibaf appeared to respond to Trump’s remarks in a post on X, saying that the U.S. government is promoting “its desires as news while threatening our nation at same time,” a situation he called a “Big Mistake.”

“If they hit one, they’ll take several back. God willing, the people of Iran, under the leadership of the Supreme Leader, will make the enemy regret the aggression and reclaim their rights,” he wrote.

According to state-run media outlet Tasnim News, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei also denied that Tehran had any direct talks with the U.S. government over ending the month-long war or reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while he rejected what he described as a proposal laid out by the Trump administration.

Earlier this week, Trump warned that Iran’s energy infrastructure could be hit by U.S. airstrikes if the country doesn’t move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz waterway that connects the oil-rich Persian Gulf nations with the rest of the world.

This past week, Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X that there had been no discussions between the two parties.

“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 U.S. and Israel are trapped,” Ghalibaf wrote.

U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said on March 31 that much of Iran’s capabilities to launch missiles and drones have been degraded by the U.S. operation, and confirmed another round of strikes on Monday night and Tuesday.

“The last 24 hours saw the lowest number of enemy missiles and drones fired by Iran,” he said in a news conference at the Pentagon.

“We recently destroyed another one of their command bunkers.

In a warning to Iran, Hegseth said that the coming days will prove to be decisive and urged the regime to take a deal offered by the United States. He said that Iran knows it has fewer options while there is “almost nothing ​they can militarily do about” the U.S. strikes.

Hegseth issued the statement hours after Iran was accused of setting ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, ‌its latest alleged attack on merchant vessels in the Gulf or in the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict started on Feb. 28. The strait’s effective closure has sent oil and gas prices much higher as Trump on social media called on other nations to help secure the waterway.

Authorities in Dubai said the fire on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi had been brought under control following a drone attack, with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew. Kuwait Petroleum Corp., the ship’s owner, said the vessel’s hull was damaged, and photos of the Al-Salmi confirmed this.

Iranian officials, in comments carried by state-run media, said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps again launched missiles at U.S. and Israeli assets in the region on Tuesday morning.

The Epoch Times contacted the White House press office for comment on Tuesday.