Conflicting signals from the United States and Iran over the status of talks to end their five-month-old war boosted uncertainty on Tuesday, with the latest attack on ​shipping in the Strait of Hormuz highlighting risks to global energy flows.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the talks were under way on Monday, warning of a “last chance” ‌for Tehran to sign a good deal, but Iran denied that negotiations were being held or planned, Reuters reported.

“They are going on right now,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event when asked about the state of negotiations, saying the sides were talking at the request of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, among others.

“This is a last chance for them (Iran) to sign a good document.”

The comments followed Trump’s ​weekend decision to call off “massive attacks” he said he had authorized on Iran, as talks were to be held, repeating a pattern in which he has vowed major ​strikes only to cancel them.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said no negotiations with the United States were taking place ⁠and no meetings were scheduled.

Iran had no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days, he said.

Baghaei added that all Iranian negotiators were in the ​country, except for Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq. The only talks underway, he said, were discussions with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping ​activity in the Gulf only reinforced the ongoing stand-off since Iran all but shut off transits through the vital route for a fifth of global shipments of crude oil and natural gas before it was blockaded in the war.

One cargo vessel broadcast it had been hit by an unknown projectile near the strait off Oman’s coast, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.

Traffic through Hormuz remained largely slow, with three ​tankers and three bulk carriers among the six vessels transiting the strait on Monday, down from seven the previous day, Kpler data showed.

STOCKS RISE, OIL DOWN ON HOPES FOR RESOLUTION

Still, hopes ​that U.S.-Iran tensions were easing again pushed down oil prices, while major stock indexes gained on Monday.

Brent crude futures fell about 7% to around $83.77 a barrel while the Dow closed at a record high. Asian ‌stocks and ⁠oil prices both edged higher on Tuesday.

Gulf officials and analysts say Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East’s trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation.

It hopes such a strategy will convince the United States and its allies that containing the crisis is more costly than accommodating Iran’s demands over the Strait of Hormuz.

“Their big advantage is that they can hurt the regional states and the global economy,” said Michael Knights of the Washington Institute.

In a post on Truth Social later ​on Monday, Trump called Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous,” saying ​they had asked for a meeting and ⁠more talks were set for the “immediate future.”

He also repeated his assertion that the U.S. Navy had total control over the Strait of Hormuz.

“‘The United States Wall of Steel!’ Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, ​or Total Surrender, is accomplished,” he wrote.

REPEATED PATTERN

Monday’s events appeared to fit a pattern since Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” alongside Israel more ​than five months ago. Trump ⁠has threatened military action several times, only to later cite diplomatic contacts as a reason to step back.

Iran, however, has publicly rejected negotiations with Washington since the collapse in early July of a memorandum of understanding both signed the previous month, aimed at ending the conflict.

Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the outset of the war: dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, ⁠curbing its ability ​to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.

Repeated U.S. actions have been ​met by escalating Iranian responses against U.S. forces in the region, Washington’s Gulf Arab allies and shipping, each time ending with Trump stepping back.

The Hormuz dispute remains a central point of contention, with Washington saying the June memorandum required Iran ​to open the strategic waterway, while Tehran says the text explicitly preserved its authority over shipping traffic.

A U.S. federal court has ordered the State Department to process travel documents for the spouses and children of several Afghan asylees, ruling that the Trump administration’s travel restrictions cannot be used to prevent them from reuniting with their families in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga directed the State Department to issue travel documents within 15 days for the families of five Afghan plaintiffs whose relatives had already received approval to enter the United States. The court also ordered the department to reassess the eligibility of other family members without applying the travel ban and to provide regular updates until the reunifications are completed.

The lawsuit, filed in Virginia, was brought by a group of Afghan refugees who had supported U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan. They argued that the administration’s travel restrictions unlawfully blocked their spouses and children from joining them, despite existing legal protections for asylees and refugees.

The ruling comes amid ongoing legal challenges to U.S. travel restrictions affecting Afghan nationals. The State Department had not indicated by Monday whether it would appeal the decision.

Advocates for the plaintiffs welcomed the decision, saying many Afghan families have spent years separated after fleeing Afghanistan and that some relatives remain stranded in third countries or have been forced to return to Afghanistan while awaiting permission to travel.

Christina Markus Lassen, Denmark’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the Security Council president for August, said on Monday that this month marks five years since the Islamic Emirate’s takeover of Afghanistan and that the UNSC presidency will seek to highlight the consequences of this event.

Speaking at a briefing, she described the anniversary as a “rather grim” milestone and said the Council presidency wants to draw attention to the consequences of the IEA’s takeover over the past five years.

Lassen noted that the Security Council’s focus will be on the impact the IEA’s rule has had on the Afghan population, particularly on women and girls.

The Islamic Emirate returned to power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021.