Iran Denies Any Deal With US to Extend Ceasefire – What Happened Behind the Scenes?

A senior Iranian official has directly contradicted a Pakistani-sourced report claiming Washington and Tehran agreed to extend their ceasefire, telling Reuters on Wednesday that no such talks are happening at all — because, from Iran’s perspective, there was never an active ceasefire period to extend in the first place.

The denial came hours after Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, citing anonymous Pakistani government sources, reported that the US and Iran had agreed to extend the 60-day window set by their June interim deal, with the original deadline due to expire August 17. The unnamed Iranian source told Reuters flatly that Washington violated the interim agreement within 48 hours of signing it and withdrew from it days later, meaning nothing remains on the calendar to extend. Iran’s position, the source said, is that the US first needs to return to the original deal’s terms and commit to an actual timeframe for implementing them.

The contradiction traces back to how fast the June framework unraveled. The interim deal called for an immediate, permanent end to military operations and a 60-day window to negotiate a final agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program and lifting US sanctions — contingent on separate conditions including a Lebanon ceasefire, free Gulf navigation, and waivers letting Iran sell oil. Trump declared the deal “over” on July 7; Iran’s Foreign Ministry called it “suspended” a week after that. Neither side has treated it as active since, which is precisely why Tehran rejects the premise of an “extension.”

This isn’t the only Pakistani-sourced claim about US-Iran talks that’s run ahead of confirmation this week. Pakistani officials separately said Tuesday that Washington and Tehran were nearing “some sort of arrangement” over the Strait of Hormuz — a claim Qatar, Iran and Oman have all pushed back on, insisting the actual shipping talks are bilateral between Oman and Iran, with the US not directly involved. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Iran and the US aren’t in talks and won’t start them while Washington continues breaching the interim deal, though he confirmed messages are still moving through intermediaries — Pakistan and Qatar among them.

That distinction matters: messages passing through mediators is not the same as direct or agreed negotiations, and Wednesday’s denial suggests Pakistani sources may be reading diplomatic movement into exchanges Tehran considers preliminary at best. Mohsin Naqvi’s meetings in Tehran this week with Pezeshkian, Araghchi and Momeni focused explicitly on reviving the memorandum and the ceasefire — work that remains unfinished, not concluded.

With the original 60-day deadline days away and no confirmed extension in place, the practical question is what happens August 17 if the interim framework simply lapses without a replacement — a scenario neither Washington nor Tehran has publicly addressed.