Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
President Trump said the US and Iran would talk on Monday.
Iran said this was not true. Iran said no talks were planned.
A spokesman for Iran named Esmail Baghaei said this.
Iran is talking with a different country called Oman. They are talking about ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
- talks
- meetings where people discuss a problem to try to solve it
- spokesman
- a person who speaks for a group or a government
- deny
- to say that something is not true
- claim
- to say something is true, without full proof
- strait
- a narrow strip of water between two areas of land
- ship
- a large boat that carries people or goods
- route
- a path or way to travel from one place to another
- plan
- an idea for what to do in the future
Level 2 — Elementary
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that no talks with the United States were happening or planned, directly disagreeing with President Trump.
Trump had said over the weekend that he called off a big planned attack on Iran and that talks between the two countries would begin Monday afternoon.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said the only real negotiations right now are between Iran and Oman, about how ships should safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran also said it rejected a plan from Oman that would have split control of the strait fifty-fifty, and instead proposed a new shipping route that passes mostly through Iran's own waters.
- foreign ministry
- the government department that handles relations with other countries
- negotiation
- formal discussion aimed at reaching an agreement
- reject
- to refuse to accept something
- propose
- to suggest a plan or idea for others to consider
- territorial waters
- the area of sea a country controls and considers its own
- shipping
- the business or activity of moving goods by ship
- contradict
- to say the opposite of what someone else has said
- chokepoint
- a narrow passage that many ships must pass through
Level 3 — Intermediate
Iran's Foreign Ministry publicly contradicted President Trump on Monday, saying no talks with the United States were underway or scheduled, despite Trump's claim that negotiations would begin that same afternoon.
Trump had said late Sunday that he approved canceling a planned strike he described as among the largest since World War II, insisting US forces remained on full alert while a deal was rapidly finalized.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the only genuine negotiations taking place are between Iran and Oman, focused narrowly on how to manage commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint through which a large share of the world's oil passes.
Iran additionally confirmed it had rejected Oman's proposal for a joint fifty-fifty arrangement modeled on the Strait of Malacca, instead pushing for a new route running largely through its own territorial waters so it could retain oversight of inbound and outbound traffic.
- underway
- already happening or in progress
- finalize
- to complete or settle the last details of something
- commercial
- relating to buying and selling, or business activity
- oversight
- the responsibility of watching over and managing something
- modeled on
- designed to be similar to an existing example
- arrangement
- a plan or agreement made between parties
- vital
- absolutely necessary or extremely important
- inbound
- traveling toward a particular place rather than away from it
Level 4 — Advanced
In a pointed public rebuttal, Iran's Foreign Ministry contradicted President Trump on Monday, asserting that no negotiations with the United States were underway or even scheduled, despite Trump's insistence that talks would commence that very afternoon.
Trump had declared late Sunday that he had authorized the cancellation of a strike he characterized as among the most formidable since World War II, maintaining that American forces remained on full alert while a prospective agreement was rapidly being finalized.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei clarified that the sole substantive negotiations currently underway are between Iran and Oman, confined specifically to managing commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the indispensable maritime chokepoint through which a substantial share of the world's seaborne oil transits.
Iran further confirmed its rejection of Oman's proposed fifty-fifty joint arrangement, patterned on the precedent set by the Strait of Malacca, advocating instead for an alternative route traversing predominantly its own territorial waters so as to preserve unilateral oversight of both inbound and outbound maritime traffic.
- rebuttal
- a formal response that argues against a claim
- authorize
- to give official permission for something to happen
- formidable
- impressively large, powerful, or difficult to deal with
- substantive
- having real, meaningful importance or substance
- indispensable
- absolutely necessary; something that cannot be done without
- transit
- to pass through or across a place
- precedent
- an earlier example used as a guide for later decisions
- unilateral
- done by one side alone, without agreement from others
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