Iran's chief negotiator said talks with the United States had made progress but significant gaps remained on nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz, as a fragile ceasefire between the countries approaches its expiration on Wednesday²³.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker who serves as chief negotiator, told state media that "we have had progress but there is still a big distance between us"². In a nationally televised address on Saturday night, Ghalibaf said "many gaps and some fundamental points remain… we are still far from the final discussion"³. He did not provide specifics about outstanding issues but said "there are some issues on which we insist… They also have red lines. But these issues could be just one or two"².

US President Donald Trump said the countries were having "very good conversations" but offered no details². On Friday, Trump claimed Iran had agreed to stop enriching uranium on its soil and would jointly transfer enriched uranium from bombed nuclear sites to the United States, though these assertions prompted rejections and clarifications from Iranian authorities¹.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Trump "cannot justify depriving Tehran" of what he called its nuclear rights³. "Trump says Iran cannot make use of its nuclear rights, but doesn't say for what crime. Who is he to deprive a nation of its rights?" Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by the Iranian Student News Agency³.

The Strait of Hormuz remained a point of contention. Iran reimposed restrictions on the waterway on Saturday, reasserting control over the energy chokepoint²³. Tehran said it was responding to a continued US blockade of Iranian ports, calling it a ceasefire violation². The strait carried one-fifth of the world's oil shipments before the war².

The current ceasefire, reached on 8 April, has two days remaining before its scheduled expiration¹³. The war, now in its eighth week, has killed thousands and spread to Israeli attacks in Lebanon².