US President Donald Trump on Monday, March 23, said the US was talking with a “respected” Iranian leader and claimed the Islamic Republic was eager for a deal to end the war, while extending a deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, saying it has an additional five days.
Trump’s turnaround, which held out the possibility of resolving the war now in its fourth week, served to drive down oil prices and jolt stocks. It offered a reprieve after the US and Iran traded threats over the weekend with potentially catastrophic repercussions for civilians across the region.
Trump told reporters that Iran wants “to make a deal,” and claimed US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had held talks with an Iranian leader on Sunday, March 22. He did not say who was representing Iran, but said the US has not talked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Trump said if a deal is reached, the US would move to take Iran’s enriched uranium, which is critical to its disputed nuclear program.
Iran denies it is in talks with US
Iran’s parliament speaker denied there have been any negotiations with the United States. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X that “No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”
Turkiye, Egypt and Pakistan act as interlocutors
According to reports, Iran has denied being in talks with the US, but admitted that some countries in the region were making efforts to reduce tensions. Axios news website quoted a US source as saying that Turkiye, Egypt and Pakistan have been passing messages between the US and Iran over the past two days.
The foreign ministers of the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the US source told Axios.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has rejected assertions that direct talks took place between the two countries, with spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei clarifying that Tehran only received secondhand messages through friendly nations conveying Washington’s interest in negotiations to end the war.
Oil prices drop after Trump’s announcement
Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has wreaked havoc on energy markets and pushed up prices of food and other goods well beyond the Middle East.
“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction,” said Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Oil prices were stubbornly high in early trading on Monday, but plunged after Trump’s announcement.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, a senior United Nations official, said the world has already seen a ripple effect, including “exponential price hikes in oil, fuel and gas” that have had a far-reaching impact on millions, primarily in Asian and African developing countries.
“There is no military solution,” he said.
Israel strikes Tehran and Lebanon
Israel launched new attacks Monday on the Iranian capital, saying it had “begun a wide-scale wave of strikes” on infrastructure targets in Tehran without immediately elaborating. Explosions were heard in multiple locations in the afternoon. It wasn’t immediately clear what had been hit.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it was attempting to intercept new incoming Iranian fire on Monday afternoon.
In recent days, Israel has hit many apartment buildings in Beirut and bombed bridges over the Litani River in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the targeting of bridges “a prelude to a ground invasion,” while Egypt denounced the strikes as the “collective punishment” of civilians for the actions of Hezbollah.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Monday that a building at its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura was struck by a projectile, which the force believes “was fired by a non-state actor,” an apparent reference to Hezbollah.
There have been battles between Hezbollah and Israeli forces at multiple points along the border. The UNIFIL statement said that “over the past 48 hours, peacekeepers have recorded intense gunfire and explosions” in the Naqoura area and “bullets, fragments, and shrapnel have hit buildings and open areas inside our headquarters.”
Iran launches 77th wave of strikes on Israel and US bases in Gulf
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it has launched its 77th wave of strikes targeting Israel and American military installations across West Asia.
The IRGC said the attacks hit the north, centre and south of Israel using what it described as “super-heavy and point-and-shoot systems, Khyber Shaken and destructive drones”, according to a statement carried by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
The strikes also targeted three US military bases – Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia and Al-Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates, the IRGC said.
Taking a swipe at Washington, the Guards warned that “Trump’s contradictory behaviour will not lead us to neglect the war front and continue the battle.”
1,000 killed in Lebanon, 1,500 in Iran
Authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million.
Iran’s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. Iran’s Deputy Governor of Lorestan said on Monday that at least 157 people have been killed and 2,667 wounded since the start of the war on February 28.
Five people were killed in an overnight air strike on the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia, Tasnim reported. It said “American-Zionist” warplanes hit residential parts of the city at around 3:45am local time, sharing videos that showed rubble and the destroyed interiors of homes.
Kremlin says it is monitoring ‘conflicting signals’ on Iran
Russia’s Kremlin says it is closely watching what it characterises as contradictory statements surrounding the escalating situation in Iran, while expressing hope for a swift, peaceful resolution.
“There have been many different statements today, including some contradictory ones. We continue to monitor the situation closely and hope that it will soon return to a peaceful course,” TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
