Pakistan announces US-Iran talks 'in coming days'

Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted the Foreign Ministry in Tehran as denying President Donald Trump's claim of talks between Washington and Tehran.

Trump, the ministry said, aims to buy time for U.S. military plans and reduce energy prices, Mehr reported.

"There are initiatives by regional countries to de-escalate tensions, and our response to all of them is clear: We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington," the statement said.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee

President Donald Trump told CNBC's Joe Kernen on Monday morning that Iran has "representatives," Kernen said, when pressed about who the administration had been in talks with.

The conversation came after Trump's social media post saying that he ordered the Pentagon to postpone strikes on Iran's energy facilities after two days of "productive" talks.

Trump said on Friday that the U.S. was having a "hard time" finding people to hold talks with saying that "We have nobody to talk to. And you know what? We like it that way."

Kernen said Monday that Trump said there had been "great meetings, great conversations and hopes that within the next 5 days something very substantive can be arrived at for the end of hostilities."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Fritz Farrow

The United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said on Monday that its forces had downed seven ballistic missiles and 16 drones launched by Iran.

The tally takes the UAE's total number of interceptions to 352 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,789 drones, the ministry said.

To date, two military servicemembers and six civilians have been killed during Iranian attacks, with another 161 people injured, the ministry said.

President Donald Trump said Monday he had instructed the Pentagon "to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."

Trump said Washington and Tehran "have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."

The president had threatened to strike Iranian power plants on Saturday unless Tehran ended its efforts to block commercial shipping from transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. That deadline was set to expire on Monday evening.

Trump said Monday that U.S.-Iran talks would "continue throughout the week."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart