Iran’s Fars News Claims No Talks with Trump; Says U.S. Backed Down After Learning of Iran’s Target List

TEHRAN/WASHINGTON — Iranian state-linked news agencies Fars and Tasnim have denied that any negotiations — direct or indirect — have taken place with the Trump administration, contradicting the U.S. president’s claims of “constructive talks.” According to unnamed Iranian sources cited by Fars, once Washington learned that Iran’s retaliatory targets include power plants across Western Asia, the U.S. side decided to pull back.
Iran has warned it will strike electrical plants and desalination facilities across the Middle East if President Trump follows through on threats to bomb power stations inside Iran — a threat that puts both electricity and drinking water at risk across Gulf states, which co-locate their power stations with desalination plants. 
Trump, for his part, said the talks were “very good and productive,” announcing a five-day pause on planned strikes against Iranian energy facilities. 
As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran enters its fourth week, Iran has imposed a de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies pass — sending energy prices soaring and raising fears of a global recession. 
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff blamed Iran for the collapse of pre-war diplomacy, accusing Tehran of trying to “strong-arm” the American team and saying Iranian insistence on uranium enrichment made a deal impossible.  However, analysts have noted that Witkoff’s own technical gaps and mischaracterizations of Iran’s nuclear program may have contributed to the breakdown.
The situation remains highly volatile, with both sides offering sharply conflicting accounts of whether any back-channel communication is underway.