President Donald Trump said Monday the United States is negotiating with Iran to end the three-week-old war, declaring that the two sides had two days of “very good and productive conversations” that will continue throughout this week.
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Trump said he had told the U.S. military to postpone strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure for five days, while talks proceed.
Trump’s message was perhaps his most conciliatory since Operation Epic Fury began – but leaves significant unanswered questions.
While he made mention of “very good and productive” talks with Iran, that has not been confirmed by the Iranians, and the statement stands in stark contrast to the bellicose tone the warring parties struck over the weekend.
Additionally, it’s not clear what, exactly, these talks focused on. The topic could potentially have been Iran’s ballistic missile program or nuclear enrichment, or simply a ceasefire – a prospect Trump specifically downplayed on Friday.
In a post on TruthSocial all in capital letters, Trump said: “I AM PLEASE TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, 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.
“BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WITCH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR 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. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”
Markets reversed earlier moves after Donald Trump said the US and Iran had had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East”.
Brent crude fell 13% to about $96 a barrel. The FTSE 100 index was up 0.5% having fallen more than 2% earlier.
Gas prices fell from 159p a therm to about 139p.
The yield on 10-year UK government bonds, which had risen to 5.121% earlier, was down to 4.89% – which is lower than at the start of the day.
Iran’s high-level security body Defence Council said in a statement that the “only way for non-hostile countries” to pass through Strait of Hormuz is “coordination with Iran”.
The Council also said in the statement published by Iranian outlets that “any attempt by the enemy to attack Iranian coasts or islands” will lead to “all access routes” in the Gulf and coastal areas getting “mined with various types of naval mines, including drifting mines deployable from the shore”.
The UAE’s foreign minister said “we will never be blackmailed by terrorists”.
There is pure anger in the Gulf about how this war has unfolded, but not all leaders agree on the way forward following Donald Trump’s ultimatum, and threats exchanged between the US and Iran.
After the extensive damage at Qatar’s Ras Laffan field and the targeting of other facilities across the region, leaders aren’t taking Iran’s threats lightly.
In the UAE, the country’s ties to the US may have made it a target, but officials say Iran has misjudged their reaction, and that far from urging Donald Trump to end the war, they now view Iran as a priority threat in their region.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the emergency Cobra meeting would discuss “every lever available” to deal with the cost of living, given the ongoing Iran conflict.
Given the unfolding war in Iran, Starmer said “most people” are concerned with the conflict itself, but also how it is going to affect them and their families.
“And so today we’re looking at the economic impact, and I am asking for every lever that’s available to the government to deal with the cost of living to be discussed at Cobra,” Starmer told reporters.
Speaking to broadcasters, Starmer said there is “no assessment” that the UK is being targeted by Iran.
It comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that Iran now has “missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin”. An Iranian missile would need to travel about 2,700 miles to reach London.
Asked whether the UK was within range of Iranian missiles, following the attempted Diego Garcia attack, Starmer says the government carries out assessments “all the time in order to keep us safe, and there’s no assessment that we’re being targeted in that way at all”.
Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz was due to expire shortly before midnight UK time.
On Saturday evening, the US president said that if the shipping channel was not opened “without threat” in 48 hours then the US would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants.
In the post, shared at 23:44 GMT (19:44 ET) on Saturday, Trump said: “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
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