US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran are under way and described them as Tehran’s “last chance” to reach an agreement, despite Iran’s Foreign Ministry denying any talks with Washington. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said he had agreed to continue discussions at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and several other countries.

Trump identified reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian nuclear disarmament as the two main issues in the discussions. He said reopening the waterway could perhaps happen as soon as the next day, while nuclear disarmament could take longer to implement. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is entirely civilian, while Western countries allege it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran is discussing safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman and is close to an acceptable arrangement. He said a full reopening of the strait is not likely immediately. On Tuesday, UKMTO reported that a cargo vessel near Oman’s coast in the strait was struck by a missile from an unknown source; the incident is under investigation.