Donald Trump had issued an ultimatum to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow passage whose closure has caused the price of oil to spike across the world - or face the wrath of the US in the shape of attacks on its power plants.
Hours before it was due to expire on Monday, the US president said the threatened attacks were being paused for five days as Tehran and Washington were making "major" progress towards a deal to bring more than three weeks of US and Israeli air raids and Iranian retaliatory attacks to an end.
Several Iranian top officials, such as Iran's parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said there were no talks - it was all "fake news". A day later, however, Trump said the US was talking to "the right people" in Iran.
What the BBC is hearing from Iran is a glimpse into the country that remains largely cut off from the world as a result of a government-imposed internet outage.
Whilst ordinary Iranians go to great lengths to find ways to link up with the outside world, such as paying high prices for satellite internet Starlink connections - itself illegal in the country - officials and some government supporters do have access to the internet.
