Trump Claims Negotiations Are Underway and Iran Faces 'Last Chance'

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that negotiations with Iran were underway despite Tehran's denials and that Iran faced a 'last chance before being beheaded'.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he agreed to continue talks with Iran at the request of several regional countries.

Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday denied negotiations with Washington were underway, but Trump insisted they were.

"We are talking now," he said, launching Al Arabiya and AFP (4/8).

"This is the last chance for them to sign a good document," continued President Trump.

"I want to give them every last chance before their heads are cut off," he said.

The talks focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump said could happen "literally tomorrow," and Iran's denuclearization, which he said could "take a little time."

Washington and Tehran have been at war since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran, although months of intermittent diplomacy have produced a period of relative calm.

More than five months later, Iran is still able to fire missiles and drones at US and allied targets in the region and maintain its stockpiles of enriched uranium.

In a pattern that has become familiar, Trump last week threatened to attack Iran "very hard" - potentially with new strikes on energy infrastructure - before later de-escalating by saying "limits" of the deal had been reached.

Iran, on the other hand, said it was not currently in negotiations with the United States.

"Our negotiations are with Oman to secure a route through the Strait of Hormuz," a vital oil corridor, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.