Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also a senior negotiator, accused Washington on Tuesday of escalating pressure on Tehran in an attempt to extract concessions that were not included in the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MoU).
“Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement," Ghalibaf wrote on social media.
“Bessent and Hegseth are way out of their league," he added, referring to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
“Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made."
The remarks came after the 60-day negotiating period established under the MoU expired, with the United States and Iran still facing significant disagreements and concerns growing over another escalation.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that he was not seeking to extend the June framework agreement with Iran, which was negotiated through Pakistan. He also claimed that American forces had established "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked whether he wanted to extend the arrangement, Trump replied, "No."
Trump said Iran's leadership wants negotiations but is unwilling to accept the conditions he believes are necessary.
"They want to make a deal, but they are not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary," Trump said.
He also reiterated that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains the central US objective.
"Look, we're in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. You understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won't have a nuclear weapon," he added.
On Tuesday, Trump further said there were no ongoing or planned negotiations with Tehran.
"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated," the President wrote on Truth Social.
The statement appeared to contradict comments Trump had made in a previous Fox News interview claiming that Washington and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were maintaining a secret channel for peace discussions.
The IRGC rejected that claim. IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi, speaking to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, described Trump's assertion as a "delusion" and said there were no contacts between IRGC officials and American representatives.
Mohebbi added that Iran's official diplomatic institutions were also not engaged in talks with Washington, attributing the absence of negotiations to what he called Washington's "breach of promises."
Separately, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei rejected reports of indirect, undisclosed contacts between the United States and the IRGC through representatives in Iraqi Kurdistan. He also denied reports of a secret US-Iran meeting in Erbil.
Baghaei described such reports as "media techniques and psychological operations used to sow discord among Iran's decision-making bodies".