Iran Calls Trump's Peace Talk Claims a 'Big Lie' as Pakistan Offers to Host Negotiations on Day 25

Day 25 of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran produced its sharpest diplomatic contradiction yet: President Trump told reporters that the United States and Iran are in active peace negotiations "right now," saying Tehran "wants to make a deal so badly" — and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Council responded within hours, calling Trump a "deceitful American president" and his statements "fake news" and "a big lie." The simultaneous public signals from the two sides are creating genuine confusion among allied governments, financial markets, and the 2,000-plus civilians already killed in the conflict.

Trump, speaking to reporters on March 24, said Iran had sent the United States "a very significant prize" as a gesture of good faith but declined to elaborate on what that was. He described the five-day pause in planned strikes on Iranian power plants — announced earlier this week — as evidence that talks were "good and productive." He also acknowledged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was "quite disappointed" by the ceasefire extension, adding that "Pete didn't want it to be settled." Trump's approval rating has fallen to 36% in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll — the lowest of his second term — driven by rising consumer prices and majority public opposition to the Iran war.

Iran's denial was categorical. A statement from the Revolutionary Guard Council said no negotiations were underway and that the only thing Tehran had communicated to Washington was a demand for a full cessation of hostilities before any diplomatic process could begin. An unnamed Iranian source speaking to CNN offered a narrower framing: there had been U.S. "outreach," and Iran would listen to "sustainable" proposals — language that falls far short of Trump's characterization of active talks.

“An unnamed Iranian source speaking to CNN offered a narrower framing: there had been U.S.”

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stepped into this gap on March 24, publicly offering Islamabad as a venue for U.S.-Iran negotiations. An Israeli official speaking anonymously to NPR confirmed that planning was already underway for talks to be held in Pakistan "later this week." The offer is strategically meaningful: Pakistan is one of the few Muslim-majority nuclear powers with diplomatic relations that span both sides of the current conflict. Islamabad has historically served as a back-channel between Washington and Tehran on multiple occasions, including during the 2015 JCPOA negotiations.

The military situation on the ground shows no signs of the de-escalation Trump is describing. Israel struck more than 50 targets in central Tehran overnight, including ballistic missile storage facilities and launch sites. Iran responded with multiple missile waves directed at Israel, striking four sites including a residential district in central Tel Aviv — six people were wounded. An Iranian strike in Bahrain killed a Moroccan civilian contractor and wounded five UAE government personnel, prompting a formal protest from Abu Dhabi. Iran named Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as the new secretary of its Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike on March 17 — a leadership transition that complicates the question of who in Tehran has actual authority to negotiate.

The U.S. military footprint in the region is expanding. Part of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division began deploying to the Middle East on March 24, according to a U.S. official who spoke to a pool of reporters traveling with the Defense Secretary. The 82nd Airborne is among the Army's fastest-reaction forces, typically deployed for crisis response, airfield seizure, or as a deterrent against escalation. The deployment brings total U.S. military personnel in the expanded theater to levels not seen since the 2003 Iraq invasion. American casualties since the conflict began stand at 290 wounded, 13 killed in action, and 2 dead from non-combat causes.

The energy market is watching the diplomatic mixed signals closely. Brent crude climbed above $104 per barrel on the day's news, paring earlier gains triggered by Trump's initial peace talk statements. The International Energy Agency has described the current energy disruption as worse than the 1970s oil shocks; the Strait of Hormuz remains the critical chokepoint, with roughly 20% of global oil supply passing through a body of water where U.S. and Iranian naval forces are operating in close proximity. A single miscalculation could push prices above $120.

**What this means for you**

For American consumers, the diplomatic chaos of March 24 has a direct cost: every sustained dollar increase in Brent crude translates to approximately $0.02 to $0.03 per gallon at the pump, according to GasBuddy's historical correlation models. With crude above $104, gasoline prices in the U.S. are already averaging $4.45 per gallon nationally — the highest since 2022. If Pakistan-brokered talks materialize and a genuine ceasefire holds, energy analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate crude could retreat to the mid-$80s within 60 days. If they collapse, $120 is not an outlier scenario. For investors, the diplomatic uncertainty argues for hedging energy exposure rather than making directional bets.

The next 72 hours will be decisive. If Pakistani-hosted talks begin and produce even a framework agreement, the contradiction between Trump's and Tehran's public statements may resolve into a genuine negotiating process. If Iran launches another major strike — or the U.S. resumes strikes on Iranian power infrastructure — the ceasefire extension will have been a brief pause in an accelerating conflict. Intelligence officials in Washington and Tel Aviv privately described the outcome as genuinely uncertain.