“President Trump said on Monday the U.S. military would postpone strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days following "productive" talks between Washington and Tehran.
In a Truth Social post written in all caps, Trump wrote that the U.S. and Iran had "very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East." Trump wrote that based on those discussions, which he expected would continue this week, he had asked the Pentagon to hold off on the energy-related strikes that he had threatened "subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
Iranian and Arab officials expressed skepticism about the chances of success for Trump's diplomatic push, saying it appeared to be an attempt to damp oil prices, which fell sharply after the president said there was progress in the talks.
"Fearing a response from Iran, Trump backed down from his 48-hour ultimatum," Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry earlier denied talks with the U.S., IRIB reported. "Yes, there are initiatives from regional countries to reduce 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," IRIB reported the ministry as saying.
Trump said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two of his leading envoys, began the talks on Sunday with an Iranian official he didn't name.
"They want very much to make a deal. We'd like to make a deal too," Trump said, adding, "They called. I didn't call. They want to make a deal, and we are very willing to make a deal. It's got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons, they're not going to have nuclear weapons anymore."
Over the weekend, Trump, a Republican, said the U.S. would attack all of Iran's energy facilities if Iran didn't fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, prompting escalatory threats from Tehran before the president relented on Monday.
Middle Eastern intermediators have been racing for days to get talks going to end the war, but said the gaps between the parties remain enormous and that progress remains fleeting.
The diagnosis appears to be at odds with Trump's announcement that there could be a deal very soon. The president said on Monday that Iran wants to settle the war, telling an audience that "this time, they mean business" because of what the U.S. military has accomplished.
Arab officials said they have been talking separately with both sides, but that Iran has set a high bar for ending hostilities that is preventing discussions from gaining traction.
"These are sensitive diplomatic discussions, and the United States will not negotiate through the news media," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Israel said on Monday its air force had launched a fresh wave of attacks on Iran's infrastructure, announcing the strikes about an hour after Trump said the U.S. would halt attacks on Iran's power plants and energy infrastructure.
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial thoroughfare for the Gulf's energy exports, has been a focus of the diplomatic efforts, the Arab officials said. Iran has all but shut the strait by attacking ships that try to transit through. Arab mediators have proposed putting the strategic waterway under the control of a neutral, regional committee to allow all ships to pass, they said.
Egypt also floated a five-day halt to the fighting to build confidence for a cease-fire, some of the officials said.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, charged with protecting the regime and a decisive voice in how the conflict ends, in reply demanded a new order for the strait that would allow Iran to collect fees from ships that transit the waterway, as Egypt does now with the Suez Canal, those people said.
The Revolutionary Guard also demanded guarantees the war wouldn't restart, an end to Israel's strikes on the Iran-aligned Lebanese militia Hezbollah, closing of U.S. bases in the Gulf and compensation for damage done to Iran during the war, those people said.
Iran threatened on Monday to lay "various types of naval mines" throughout the Persian Gulf if its coasts or islands come under attack, the regime's Supreme Defense Council said, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported.
"The entire Persian Gulf will be in conditions similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long period of time," the council was reported as saying by Tasnim.
Many of the Iranian demands voiced in private mediation efforts -- positions that have only hardened since the second week of the war -- reflect those Tehran has floated in public. Having survived more than 16,000 U.S. and Israeli airstrikes with its control intact and still able to hit sensitive targets across the Gulf, the regime has made clear it won't simply end the war with a cease-fire that allows it to be attacked later.
The risk is a settlement that entrenches Iranian influence over Persian Gulf energy exports for years.
Gulf officials objected to the idea of fees, with Saudi Arabia saying the kingdom wouldn't allow Iran to have the upper hand in operations in the strait, some of the people said. The U.S. continues to push for a suspension of Iran's missile program, an end to enrichment of uranium and support for regional militias, and an unconditional opening of the strait, some of the people said.
Asked on Monday who would control the strait after the war, Trump said, "Maybe me." The president said new Iranian leadership would also play a role.
The escalating conflict is delivering a sharper blow to global oil markets than the combined impact of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said.
"At that time in each crisis, the world lost about five million barrels per day," Birol said. "Today we lost 11 million barrels per day so more than two major oil shocks put together."” [1]
1. President Backs Off On Threat To Iranian Energy --- Trump says talks to end war are making progress, but Tehran expresses skepticism. Leary, Alex; Said, Summer; Faucon, Benoit. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 24 Mar 2026: A1.
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