Iran's Supreme National Security Council official Mohsen Rezaei stated that a response had been received from the United States, while characterising Washington's reply as falling short of the preliminary conditions Tehran had set for opening talks, even as he acknowledged that the American side had accepted a portion of those terms.

Rezaei stated that the reply received from the other side did not meet what was required, and that the outstanding points of uncertainty would have to be addressed before the matter could move forward. The response put forward by the American side accepted a portion of the conditions on the table, while a number of points remained unresolved. No reciprocal action had been taken in response to the steps already made by the American side, according to his account.

Rezaei indicated that, over the preceding two months, proposals had been transmitted to Tehran through three separate intermediary channels — Pakistan, Qatar, and Iraq — with those communications carrying requests for Iran to put forward positions of its own. Whether sufficient clarification could be provided to allow the next phase of engagement to proceed remained unresolved, he indicated.

Seven conditions were put forward to the American side, according to the statement, with the declaration that failure to meet them would leave both the Strait of Hormuz closed to their passage and any prospect of negotiations off the table. Rezaei also indicated that Tehran's approach to engaging with the United States had shifted, with a statement ruling out any return to the framework that had governed previous rounds of contact between the two sides.

According to his account, each of the three rounds of negotiations was cut short by the United States before its conclusion, with military action against Iran following in the aftermath. Military action involving the United States, Israel, and Iran began on 28 February, according to reports from that period.

A memorandum of understanding signed by the two governments in June laid out terms for halting hostilities across every active front, including Lebanon. On the night leading into 8 July, the United States launched a new wave of strikes against Iran, citing what it described as violations of existing agreements governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Signals from the administration pointed toward a withdrawal from military action against Iran, with a shift instead toward intensified economic pressure through an expanded sanctions framework. On 10 October, Trump indicated that additional strikes against Iran remained an option he had not taken off the table.