ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that US and Iranian delegations exchanged messages through mediators, after Iran’s top diplomat met with Qatari mediators in New York.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with a Qatari mediator “to cover the latest developments regarding messages exchanged with the US,” Iranian state media reported, adding that the talks specifically focused on Iran's “seven conditions” for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“There are no plans for negotiations with the US on the agenda of this delegation,” state media added, citing a source close to the delegation.

Asked whether Iranian and US negotiating teams had held talks through mediators on Monday, Trump told reporters: “Yes, they have.”

“We're going to win. As far as I'm concerned, it's going to be one way or the other,” said Trump, adding “it's going to go pretty quickly too.”

On Saturday, Trump said he was rejecting a proposal from Iran to “immediately” open the Strait of Hormuz, boasting that the US already has “total control” over the vital waterway.

On Saturday, Araghchi said that Tehran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week should Washington accept Tehran’s terms outlined in the June memorandum between the two countries.

Iran closed the strait after US-Israeli strikes killed the top brass of Iran’s leadership, catapulting the region into a conflict that persists today. The two sides remotely signed a peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June with Islamabad’s mediation.

The agreement collapsed weeks later when the US claimed Iran had struck a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

Axios on Monday reported that Washington is ready to “grant Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds in return for real progress on the nuclear issue,” citing a senior US official.

On Tuesday, Trump said US officials and the Iranian delegation at the UN General Assembly held a “very good” three-hour meeting, with another meeting scheduled in the “very near future.”

During his address at the UN’s high-profile annual event, Trump said that he is facing a choice between making a deal with Iran following the upcoming US midterm elections or “annihilating” the Islamic republic, calling it Washington’s “big decision to make.”

Last week’s comments came as Iran’s second-most powerful body, the hardline Assembly of Experts, warned that pursuing peace for Iran under current circumstances is an “unforgivable offense” and “divisive”, noting that “past experience has shown there is no path other than resistance.”

Since the February war, there have been differing positions in Tehran on further talks with Washington, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other hardliners showing little willingness to resume negotiations, while moderates express openness to further negotiations.