US President Donald Trump has postponed his ultimate threat of attacks on Iranian power plants – because of what he called “productive talks” with the Islamic Republic. He had originally set a hard deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz, which is important for international shipping, by Tuesday night (CET) – otherwise he wanted to have Iran’s power plants destroyed. Instead, he now wants to refrain from attacks against power plants and energy infrastructure for another five days, as he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Iran denies talks
The Iranian parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf denied: There were no negotiations with the USA. “Fake news” would be used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and to escape the “swamp in which the USA and Israel are stuck.” Both states attacked the Islamic Republic three weeks ago.
According to the state news agency Irna, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran also said that there had been no negotiations or talks with the USA in the last 24 days. Iran’s positions on the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war remain unchanged.
Trump presents it differently
Trump said he ordered the Defense Department to suspend all attacks on power plants and energy infrastructure. He spoke of “detailed and constructive discussions” with the Islamic Republic that will continue this week. The suspension of the attacks is subject to the success of further meetings and negotiations.
According to Trump, the USA and Iran have agreed on around 15 points of a possible agreement. “They will never have nuclear weapons. They agreed to that,” the Republican told reporters in Florida. There are significant similarities on most points. On the US side, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will be present at the talks. The two had negotiated as a duo in the Gaza war. “Axios” reporter Barak Ravid reported, citing information from Israel, that they are speaking with Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf.
Trump said that he was negotiating with a person who he said he believed was the most respected. It is not about the new supreme leader, Moschtaba Khamenei.
Trump went on to say that Iran desperately wants a deal to end the war – and so does the US. They will probably speak on the phone this Monday.
Trump also stated that the US wants to take over the enriched uranium that is in Iran. And he expressed confidence that Israel would also be convinced by a possible deal. The USA and Israel are justifying their war, among other things, with the aim of preventing Iran from secretly building nuclear weapons. Tehran denies such intentions.
Trump had set a 48-hour deadline
The Fars agency quoted an anonymous source in the Iranian power apparatus as saying that Trump backtracked on his ultimatum after hearing that all power plants in West Asia would be targets of Iranian attacks. Tasnim wrote that Trump allowed himself to be convinced by “the pressure of the financial markets.”
On Sunday night (CET), Trump threatened to destroy his energy facilities if the country did not open the Strait of Hormuz completely and “without threats” within 48 hours. Otherwise, the US would attack and destroy Iran’s power plants, “starting with the largest!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Breathe a sigh of relief on the markets
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) welcomed Trump’s statements about a temporary waiver of threatened attacks against power plants. “I am grateful that he said today that he is postponing this for another five days and is now opening up the possibility for immediate and direct contacts with the Iranian leadership,” said Merz in Berlin. “I offered him that we would help in every way. We have good contacts throughout the region.”
Investors reacted with relief to the extension of the US ultimatum. The German stock index (Dax) made a turnaround and then jumped significantly higher after a loss in the morning. By midday it was up 2.64 percent at 22,972 points.
The situation was similar for the MDax of medium-sized companies, which also recently increased by 2.64 percent to 28,531. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 recovered similarly significantly. Profits are now also emerging on US stock exchanges that were previously expected to be weak.
The price of oil fell clearly: The price for a barrel (159 liters) of crude oil of the North Sea variety Brent, which is the key type for Europe, fell significantly to around 103 US dollars.
Iran wanted to strike back
Iran, for its part, threatened on Sunday to completely close the strait if the US attacked Iranian power plants. The Strait of Hormuz will only be reopened once the power plants that have already been destroyed have been rebuilt, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced on state broadcaster Irib.
Tehran had previously threatened to target energy infrastructure and desalination plants in the US-allied Gulf states. Given the water shortage in the region, desalination plants are part of the critical infrastructure there.
More attacks
Meanwhile, there were further attacks in both Iran and Israel. A new wave of Israeli air strikes with violent explosions in several districts of the metropolis were reported from the Iranian capital Tehran. The Israeli military had previously announced on the Telegram platform the start of another series of extensive attacks on government facilities in the Islamic Republic.
A few hours later, Israel’s army reported a new volley of rockets that had been fired at Israel from Iran. The air defense systems had been prepared to intercept the projectiles, it said on Telegram. Residents were asked to go to shelters.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon claimed more than 60 attacks on Israel in 24 hours. Hezbollah fighters used rockets, drones and artillery to attack Israeli soldiers and vehicles in the border area, among other things, the militia said.
