Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the media on Thursday, signaling a willingness to engage in diplomatic negotiations with the United States prior to the upcoming November midterm elections. His comments serve as a direct rebuttal to assertions made by former President Donald Trump, who has frequently suggested that the Iranian leadership is stalling in hopes of a different political outcome following the U.S. elections.

According to Pezeshkian, Tehran does not wish for the current tensions to persist until after the American midterms. While the Iranian president expressed a desire for a resolution, the report from The Hill notes that the specific terms or framework for such a deal remain undefined. The situation highlights a clear divergence in narrative between the Iranian government and the Trump campaign regarding the motivations behind the current diplomatic stalemate. While Trump frames the delay as a strategic move by Iran to wait for a potential change in U.S. leadership, Pezeshkian’s public remarks attempt to shift the responsibility for the lack of progress back onto the current U.S. political environment. As of now, there has been no official confirmation from the U.S. government or the Trump campaign regarding any active back-channel discussions that would facilitate such a deal before November.