President Donald Trump said early Monday he is "not offering Iran anything" despite suggesting new nuclear talks with Tehran, following a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel agreed last week after an intense 12-day conflict.
Through last week, the president and his administration continued to push back on an early intelligence report suggesting that the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities may have only set Tehran's nuclear program back by months.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has been in communication "both directly and indirectly with the Iranians."
"That communication continues, the president himself has not talked to Iran, which he pointed out in his statement," Leavitt said. This comes after President Donald Trump said on Monday he is not "talking to" Iran.
Leavitt also reaffirmed that the U.S. "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear facility in its strikes on June 21.
Two Iranian grand ayatollahs issued separate fatwas on Sunday saying that any insult, threat or aggression against the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from "a government or individual" is an "insult and aggression to the essence of Islam" and carries the ruling of "waging war against God."
The fatwas do not mention specific foreign leaders, but come after both President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the possibility of killing Khamenei during the recent 12-day conflict.
"Waging war against God" is one of the most severe security crimes in Iran's Islamic law and can be punishable by execution.
Grand Ayatollah Hosein Noori Hamedani and Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi's fatwas were published widely in Iranian media.
The declarations prompted concern among human rights activists, as they added that anyone who assists any government or individual that threatens Khamenei will be considered guilty of the same crime.
-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post to X Monday that he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to urge Tehran to "return to the negotiating table."
Among the French leader's messages were for Iran to "respect for the ceasefire, to help restore peace in the region," Macron wrote.
Macron also said he urged "a return to the negotiating table to address ballistic and nuclear issues," plus for Iran to uphold its commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty "and the swift resumption of the IAEA's work in Iran to ensure full transparency."
President Donald Trump on Monday pushed back on suggestions by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons that the White House is considering sanctions relief for Iran as part of renewed nuclear negotiations.
"Tell phony Democrat Senator Chris Coons that I am not offering Iran ANYTHING, unlike Obama, who paid them $Billions under the stupid 'road to a Nuclear Weapon JCPOA (which would now be expired!), nor am I even talking to them since we totally OBLITERATED their Nuclear Facilities," Trump wrote on social media.
Coons spoke to Fox News on Sunday and referenced reports suggesting Trump "is now moving towards negotiation and offering Iran a deal that looks somewhat similar to the Iran deal that was offered by Obama. Tens of billions of dollars of incentives and reduced sanctions in exchange for abandoning their nuclear program."
