WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/LONDON – US President Donald Trump said Sunday that negotiations with Iran will begin Monday afternoon, noting that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar had asked the United States to call off planned strikes because "they think there's a deal.”

"There's a deal on (the Strait of) Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran," Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews.

Claiming that Iran had also asked the United States to pull back the planned strikes, Trump said that "now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation."

ALSO READ: Trump says US to hold off attack on Iran

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud spoke on the phone with Trump on Saturday and "expressed concern and asked for clarity" about the proposed plan of action against Iran, a US official told news outlet Axios.

Pakistan, Qatar, the UAE, Türkiye and other countries have also called on the United States and Iran to de-escalate tensions and avoid further conflict.

Iran's president says necessary to make US adhere to MoU

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that Iran must "compel" the United States to remain committed to the peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X, saying that there is a consonance among members of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on the MoU.

Pezeshkian said he believes the MoU will be the focal point of Iran's foreign relations in the future.

"We must strive to compel the enemy to adhere to what it has signed. The security of the country, region and our allies will improve with this MoU," he said.

On June 18, Iran and the United States signed the MoU, under which the two countries were scheduled to hold negotiations within a 60-day period to reach a final agreement. However, the talks' fate is hanging in the balance due to the recent escalation between them.

The US military launched multiple waves of strikes against Iranian targets last month, saying they were in response to Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping." Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting US military bases and facilities in the region.

Iran denies deal on reopening Hormuz Strait

Also on Sunday, Iran's Acting Defense Minister Seyed Majid Ebn Al-Reza said that Tehran perceives every "enemy" threat as "real and noteworthy," rejecting any characterization of them as mere psychological warfare.

"We will neither be surprised nor remain passive. We use threats as a basis to increase our preparedness, strengthen our deterrence, and develop our power," Al-Reza wrote on social media platform X after Trump said earlier that he had agreed to hold off fresh attacks against Iran.

In his post on Truth Social, Trump said the United States was "locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II," but held off after being "asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries," citing a forthcoming deal that would include the "Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran's nuclear threat."

ALSO READ: Report: Iran prepares plan in response to potential attacks on infrastructure

Earlier, US media reports had suggested US and Israeli strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure could begin over the weekend.

Israel's Channel 12 news reported Sunday that Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has agreed to a Qatari-US-brokered compromise deal allowing ships to enter the Gulf through the Iranian-controlled side and exit via Omani waters.

However, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, citing a source close to the Iranian negotiating team, quickly rejected the claim.

Fars also quoted a military source as saying that as long as the US "hostile and malicious acts" continue, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, with vessels permitted to transit only via Iran-designated routes and with the coordination and permission of the Navy of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps.

The source warned that other routes are unsafe, adding that Iran's policies on the strategic waterway remain unchanged.

Iran tightened its grip on the strait on Feb 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.

UKMTO: Tanker reports nearby explosion near Hormuz Strait

Meanwhile, a tanker reported hearing an explosion in close proximity to the vessel near the eastern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, though both the vessel and its crew were reported safe, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Sunday.

According to a UKMTO advisory, the agency received the report from the vessel's master at 20:37 GMT on Sunday. The master said the explosion was heard while the vessel was about 20 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman.

Iran's Araghchi says Hormuz talks with Oman in final stages

Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday that negotiations between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz are in their final stages, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Araghchi said during a cabinet meeting that the negotiations have progressed and are on the path of being finalized.

READ MORE: Mideast conflict widens amid tit-for-tat strikes

Elaborating on the Iran-Oman talks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV on Sunday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stressed that reaching an agreement between the two countries is not related to the waterway's reopening or continued closure.

Baghaei said Iran and Oman are working to designate a "new route" in the strait within a traffic separation scheme format that can ensure both sides' sovereign rights as well as Iran's national interests and security.