Iran’s parliamentary speaker said tonight that talks with the United States have advanced, even as major disagreements persist and tensions continue to rise over the ongoing conflict.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaking to the Tasnim news agency, said there has been “progress” in the discussions but cautioned that a “big distance” still separates the two sides on key terms needed to end the war. He added that “The American and Iranian negotiating teams now have a more realistic understanding of each other” despite the gaps.

His remarks followed comments by President Donald Trump, who told reporters that negotiations are “going actually along very well,” while emphasizing that Iran “can’t blackmail us.”

At the same time, Iran confirmed on Saturday that it has shut down the Strait of Hormuz and intends to maintain control over the strategic waterway until the war concludes.

A report by Fox News, citing a regional intelligence source, said the Strait is now fully controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and has been closed to traffic.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night, Trump raised the possibility that the current ceasefire may not be extended, while reaffirming that the U.S. blockade will remain in place. “Maybe I won’t extend” the ceasefire with Iran, “but the blockade is going to remain. But maybe I won’t extend it, so you’ll have a blockade and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”

Earlier in the day, Trump told CBS News that Iran had accepted U.S. terms and would cooperate in removing its enriched uranium from the country.

He stressed that no American ground forces would be involved in the operation and said only that “our people” would handle retrieving the material.

“No. No troops,” he said. “We’ll go down and get it with them, and then we’ll take it. We’ll be getting it together because by that time, we’ll have an agreement and there’s no need for fighting when there’s an agreement. Nice right? That’s better. We would have done it the other way if we had to.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected Trump’s claims, insisting that its enriched uranium stockpile would not be transferred out of the country.

Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Iranian state media that “the transfer of uranium to the US has not been presented as an option.”

He underscored Iran’s position, stating, “Iran’s enriched uranium is as sacred to us as the soil of Iran and will under no circumstances be transferred anywhere.”