Trump Delays Iran Strike Deadline as Talks Claim Progress
2026-03-24 - 07:34
US President Donald Trump has pushed back his deadline for Iran to allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen by five days, citing progress in talks. As the countdown towards his original 48-hour deadline ticked closer to its final 12 hours on Monday night (AEDT), Trump said the countries had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East” over the past two days. “Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, witch (sic) 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,” he said in an all caps Truth Social post. However, Iran’s Fars news agency said after Trump’s post that there was no direct communication with the US or through intermediaries. Citing an unnamed source, Fars said Trump had retreated after hearing that Iran would respond by attacking all power plants in the region. Trump’s post immediately sent oil prices tumbling and spiked markets that were trading at the time. The benchmark Brent crude oil index fell back towards $US100 ($142) for the first time in almost a week after peaking earlier in the day above $US113. Wall Street futures jumped more than 2 per cent before the market opened while London’s FTSE, and Europe’s STOXX 600 and precious metals also climbed. Iran had warned it would strike electrical plants across the Middle East if Trump followed through on his threat to bomb power stations threatened to mine the whole Persian Gulf if it was invaded. The Monday warning by Tehran put at risk both electrical supplies and water in the Gulf Arab states, particularly as the desert nations commingle their power stations with desalination plants crucial for supplying drinking water. Over the weekend, Iran launched missiles targeting Dimona in Israel, near a facility key to its long-suspected atomic weapons program. The Israeli facility was not damaged in the barrage.