Report: Trump Orders Halt to Iran Talks

President Donald Trump has instructed his administration’s senior envoys to immediately halt talks with Iran, amid an apparent shift in the American strategy toward Tehran. According to a CNN report today (Wednesday), citing an American official, the White House is moving away from an approach favoring swift action against Iran and toward a policy aimed at increasing pressure on it over time.

Administration officials recently told political allies that the approach of "hitting Iran as soon as possible" is giving way to a policy described as "choking it" over time. At the same time, Trump himself made clear that there are currently no active diplomatic contacts with the Islamic Republic.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: "There are no talks or contacts taking place, or planned, with the Islamic Republic of Iran." He added: "The naval blockade remains fully in effect. The Strait of Hormuz is open and operating. All naval mines have been removed or detonated."

The development comes after a temporary ceasefire agreement expired on Monday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that, because of the diplomatic deadlock, his country is shifting to a "fully offensive military posture."

The tough message now coming from Trump contrasts with the tone struck just Monday by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and special envoy. Kushner said at the time that talks with Iran were still ongoing, and even said they were "probably more intensive" than they had ever been.

In Tehran, officials are also escalating their rhetoric against Washington. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed that the U.S. administration is increasing pressure in an attempt to extract concessions from Iran that were not included in the memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad. "The Americans think that putting more pressure on Iran will achieve concessions that were never part of the agreement," Ghalibaf wrote on X.

Ghalibaf then sharply criticized figures in the U.S. administration: "Vance and Hegseth are far too big for their roles. Stop waiting for the clown team to pull a rabbit out of a hat and clean up the mess you created."