New Delhi, July 27 -- WASHINGTON - Donald Trump declared Monday that the United States was engaged in "very deep talks with Iran right now," while Tehran's foreign ministry dismissed the claim as having no basis in fact. The gap between the two accounts sent Brent crude falling roughly 7% and left three mediating governments - Oman, Qatar, and Switzerland - scrambling to determine what, if anything, was actually under way.

Trump spoke to reporters before departing the White House, adding that there was "not much time" for diplomacy to produce results and that military strikes would resume if the current pause proved fruitless. "Nothing gained, nothing lost," he said, a formulation that alarmed allied capitals more than it reassured them....