Trump says US will not strike Iranian power plants for 5 days in shift in Strait of Hormuz deadline

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, saying Monday that the United States would postpone threatened strikes against Iranian power plants for five days.

In his announcement on Truth Social, Trump also indicated the possibility of a solution to the war — although Iranian officials denied negotiations were taking place. Trump’s shift appears to offer some measure of relief after the United States and Iran exchanged threats with potentially catastrophic repercussions for civilians across the region.

Read more: Trump continues to change course on the Strait of Hormuz strategy, raising questions about the extent of the United States’ readiness for war

Trump later told reporters that Iran wanted to “reach a deal” and claimed that US envoys were holding talks with a “respected” Iranian leader. He said that his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, held talks until Sunday evening, and that the negotiations would continue.

Trump did not mention the name of any official or officials representing Tehran. He said that the United States had not spoken with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. Trump said that if an agreement was reached with Iran, the United States would move to take Iranian enriched uranium necessary for its disputed nuclear program.

Shortly after Trump’s announcement on social media – hours before the deadline expired – Iranian state television announced that the US leader had backed down “after Iran’s stern warning.”

The war, now in its fourth week, has seen several dramatic turning points — the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, the bombing of a major Iranian gas field, and strikes targeting oil and gas facilities and other civilian infrastructure in Gulf Arab states. The conflict has killed more than 2,000 people, rocked the global economy, sent oil prices soaring, and put some of the world’s busiest air corridors at risk.

Read more: Iran threatens to “completely” close the Strait of Hormuz and strike power plants after Trump’s ultimatum

The recent attacks could have cut off electricity to large segments of people in Iran and around the Gulf and destroyed desalination plants that supply drinking water to many desert countries. There are also growing concerns about the consequences of any strikes on nuclear facilities.

Trump issued a deadline and then extended it

Trump said over the weekend that the United States would “destroy” Iran’s power plants unless the country released its grip on the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours — a deadline that would have expired late Monday, Washington time.

But on Monday morning, Trump wrote on his website Truth Social that the United States and Iran had “very good and productive discussions” that could result in a “complete and comprehensive resolution” in the war.

He watches: As attacks on oil sites continue, Trump rejects ceasefire and says Iran is ‘finished’

Trump added that suspending his threat to attack power plants “depends on the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”

Trump did not clarify the details of the negotiations that took place, and the state-owned newspaper Iran reported that the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied that anything had happened.

The newspaper said, “The US President’s statements come within the framework of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans.”

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that he spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. Türkiye was previously a mediator in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Monday that Egypt had sent “clear messages” to Iran focusing on stopping the escalation of the conflict, according to his office.

Iran threatened retaliation

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard vowed retaliation if Trump carried out his threat, saying Iran would strike power plants in all regions that supply US bases with electricity, “as well as economic, industrial and energy infrastructure in which the Americans have stakes.”

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Iran would consider critical infrastructure across the region legitimate targets, including energy and desalination facilities vital to drinking water in Gulf states.

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, published a list of these facilities, including the nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Over the weekend, Iran launched missiles targeting Dimona in Israel, near a key facility for its long-suspected nuclear weapons program. The Israeli facility was not damaged.

In the wake of Trump’s transformation, Fars and other news agencies portrayed the US president as retreating.

“Since the beginning of the war, messages have been sent to Tehran by some intermediaries, but Iran’s clear response was that it would continue its defense until the required level of deterrence was achieved,” the Tasnim report said. He added: “With this kind of psychological warfare, the Strait of Hormuz will not return to pre-war conditions, and calm will not return to energy markets.”

As the United States deploys more amphibious assault ships and additional Marine forces to the Middle East, Iran has also warned against any ground attack.

The Iranian Defense Council warned that “any attempt by the enemy to target the coasts or islands of Iran will naturally and in accordance with established military practice lead to the mining of all access routes… in the Persian Gulf and along the coasts.”

Trump said he had no intention of sending ground troops to Iran, but he also said he was reserving all options. Israel hinted that its ground forces may participate in the war.

Oil prices rose but fell after Trump’s announcement

Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has wreaked havoc on energy markets, pushed up the prices of food and other commodities far beyond the Middle East, and sent shockwaves throughout the global economy.

“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues in this direction,” said Fatih Birol, head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Oil prices were steadily high in early trading on Monday, but fell after Trump’s announcement.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, a senior UN official, said the world had already seen a ripple effect, including a “massive rise in oil, fuel and gas prices” that had a far-reaching impact on millions, especially in developing Asian and African countries.

He added: “There is no military solution.”

Israel strikes Tehran and Lebanon

Israel launched new attacks on Monday on the Iranian capital, saying it had “begun a large-scale wave of strikes” on infrastructure targets in Tehran without immediately elaborating. Explosions were heard in several locations this afternoon. It was not immediately clear what was injured.

The United Arab Emirates reported that its air defenses were trying to intercept new Iranian fire on Monday afternoon.

Israel also targeted the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while the group fired hundreds of rockets at Israel.

In recent days, Israel bombed several residential buildings in Beirut and bombed bridges over the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the targeting of bridges as a “prelude to a ground invasion,” while Egypt denounced the strikes as “collective punishment” of civilians for Hezbollah’s actions.

Authorities say that Israeli strikes killed more than a thousand people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.

The Iranian Ministry of Health said that the death toll in Iran exceeded 1,500 people. In Israel, 15 people were killed in Iranian raids. At least 13 American soldiers were killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and the Arab Gulf states.

Mathkour rose from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Charlotte Graham-Maclay in Wellington, New Zealand, Sally Abouljoud and Bassem Marwa in Beirut, and Tong Hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.