Trump Says United States Is in Talks With Iran, Will Hold Off Attacking Energy Infrastructure

President Trump says his administration is in talks with Iran and they are progressing well, declaring a potential “resolution” to the ongoing war and ordering a temporary halt to planned military strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure. Iran is denying that any such talks have taken place or are scheduled.In an early Monday morning post on Truth Social, the president wrote, “I am pleased 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.” He added, “Based on the tenor and tone of these in-depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, which 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.”Following the post, Mr. Trump spoke with Fox Business‘ Maria Bartiromo and CNBC’s Joe Kernen to reinforce his message. He told Mr. Kernen, “We are very intent on making a deal with Iran,” and informed Ms. Bartiromo that peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had engaged with Iranian officials Sunday night. According to Ms. Bartiromo, Mr. Trump emphasized, “Iran wants to make a deal badly.”However, Iranian state media and officials strongly rejected the president’s claims that any diplomatic progress was being made. Citing an unnamed “senior security official,” state media reported, “There has been no negotiation and there is no negotiation, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war conditions nor will there be peace in the energy markets,” the BBC reported.Additionally, the Iranian Student News Network quoted an informed source denying the negotiations and declaring the Strait of Hormuz “closed to aggressors.”Mr. Trump fired back, saying, “They’re going to have to get themselves better public relations people. We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement, I would say almost all points of agreement.” He added that in the talks, “we’re dealing with a man who I believe is the most respected and the leader,” but “not the Supreme Leader.”The Jerusalem Post reported that Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is leading the talks with the United States, but the speaker later dismissed those reports and said no talks have taken place and Mr. Trump’s claims are merely an attempt to manipulate financial markets.“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors,” the speaker said in a social media post. “All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved.”“I would say if they carry through with that, it will end that problem, that conflict. And I think it will end it very, very substantially,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach. “They want very much to make a deal. We’d like to make a deal, too,” but he added that if this is not settled, “we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”The conflicting reports triggered an immediate reaction in global markets, sending U.S. stock markets soaring and oil prices tumbling. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — which typically handles roughly 20 percent of global oil and gas — has virtually stopped since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in late February. The five-day pause in military action comes just as a 48-hour ultimatum issued by Mr. Trump is set to expire on Monday evening. Mr. Trump had threatened to attack Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strait. In retaliation, Iran had threatened to attack Israel’s power plants and those supplying American bases across the Gulf region, warning that energy facilities could be “irreversibly destroyed.”While Mr. Trump said they have “15 points of agreement,” he cited only one specifically, saying Iranians had committed to not having a nuclear weapon. “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon,” he said, adding that the United States will need to take possession of Iran’s highly enriched uranium.

Trump Says United States Is in Talks With Iran, Will Hold Off Attacking Energy Infrastructure

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