DUBAI/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said late Thursday he was pausing attacks on Iran’s energy plants for 10 days at the Iranian government’s request and that talks with Tehran were going “very well”.
“As per Iranian Government request... I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, President Trump said Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.
Referring to cryptic comments earlier this week about a “gift” from Tehran, Trump said Iran allowed eight “big boats of oil” to transit the waterway earlier this week, followed by two others later on. “They said, to show you that we’re real and we’re solid and we’re there, we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil — eight big boats of oil. I think they were Pakistani-flagged. It ended up being 10 boats.”
While a senior Iranian official told Reuters that a US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair”. Whereas President Trump said Iran must make a deal or face a continued onslaught.
The Iranian official said the proposal, conveyed to Tehran by Pakistan, “was reviewed in detail on Wednesday night by senior Iranian officials and the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader”.
It lacked the minimum requirements for success and served only US and Israeli interests, the official said, while stressing that diplomacy had not ended despite the lack for now of a realistic plan for peace talks.
Holding his first cabinet meeting since the start of the joint US-Israeli operation, President Trump denied being “desperate” to make a deal with Iran, as he mixed threats with diplomacy in a push to wrap up his war in the Middle East.
Trump insisted that Iran was being “beat to shit” and was “begging” for a deal, despite Tehran’s denials. But Trump rejected reports that he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned. “I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “I’m the opposite of desperate. I don’t care.”
Trump has been saying for days that Iran wants to make a deal, amid growing signs he is seeking a quick end to the conflict. Iran, however, says there are no direct negotiations.
During the 90-minute televised meeting at the White House, Trump veered between repeated threats to “obliterate” Iran and claims it was on the verge of capitulating.
“They want to make a deal. The reason they want to make a deal is they have been just beat to shit,” Trump said.
Citing the original timeframe of four to six weeks that he gave shortly after the US-Israeli offensive began on February 28, Trump said “we’re extremely, really, a lot ahead of schedule.”
But he then said that taking control of Iran’s oil was an “option,” as the United States effectively did with Venezuela after toppling Nicolas Maduro, who appeared in a US court on Thursday.
Trump’s comments will once again fuel the speculation that has swirled since the start of the war about the 79-year-old’s goals and timeline for the war. The US-Iran talks have been shrouded in uncertainty since Trump first announced them on Monday and postponed a threat to attack Iran’s power plants.
Trump’s deadline for Iran to unblock the Strait of Hormuz or see its energy network hit is due to expire on Friday, but with just a day to go he said he wasn’t sure if he’d extend it.
“In Trump time, a day, you know what it is? That’s an eternity,” he said.
But Trump’s global envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed for the first time that Washington had sent a 15-point “action list” via mediator Pakistan and said there were “strong signs” Iran might make a deal.
The exact contents of the US plan, conveyed to Iran via Pakistan according to Pakistani officials, are not public, but the Iranian news agency Tasnim said: “Iran’s response to the 15 points proposed by the US was officially sent last night through intermediaries, and Iran is awaiting the other side’s response.”
The Tasnim report, citing an unnamed official, said Iran’s reply called for an end to US and Israeli attacks on Iran and also on Tehran-backed groups elsewhere in the region -- an implicit reference to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, among others. War reparations should be paid and Iran’s “sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz be respected.
Meanwhile, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, several Middle Eastern officials said the US plan to end war offered extensive sanctions relief to Iran in return for the removal of all its enriched uranium material and abandonment of enrichment processing capabilities, limits to Tehran’s ballistic missile program, and the cessation of support to militant groups in the region including Hezbollah, Houthis and Hamas, the Washington Post reported.
Trump meanwhile spent much of his time lambasting NATO and other allies for rejecting his appeals to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes. He blasted the British aircraft carriers London eventually offered as “toys” compared to their US equivalents. “I’ve done a great favor for the world. The world has not been reciprocal,” Trump said. “I believe that’s going to cost them dearly.”
Trump’s top officials also chimed in. Top US diplomat Marco Rubio appeared to quote rappers Public Enemy as he said that “every day, the Department of War lets the drummer get wicked over every portion of Iran.”
President Trump said that the United States “needs nothing from NATO”. “NATO nations have done absolutely nothing to help with the lunatic nation, now militarily decimated, of Iran,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “The USA needs nothing from NATO”.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hailed Trump for “doing the work of the free world.” “We pray for a deal, and we welcome a deal,” Hegseth said. “But in the meantime...the Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs.”
President Trump has told associates in recent days that he wants to avoid a protracted war in Iran and that he hopes to bring the conflict to an end in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Nearly one month into the war, the president has privately informed advisers he thinks the conflict is in its final stages, urging them to stick to the four-to-six-week timeline he has outlined publicly, according to people familiar with the matter. White House officials planned a mid-may summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing with the expectation that the war would be concluded before the meeting begins, some of the people said. The president told an associate that the war is diverting attention from his other priorities.
European and allied nations on Thursday looked for ways to narrow differences with the United States on the Middle East war as a two-day meeting of G7 foreign ministers got underway outside Paris. Germany’s foreign minister said it was encouraging if the United States was talking directly to Iran to end the war in the Middle East, but Washington should make its intentions clear.
The EU’s top diplomat accused Russia of providing intelligence support to Iran in the Middle East war to “kill Americans”, calling on the United States to increase pressure on Moscow.
“We see that Russia is helping Iran with intelligence to target Americans, to kill Americans, and Russia is also supporting Iran now with the drones so that they can attack neighbouring countries and also US military bases,” Kaja Kallas told journalists at a G7 meeting outside Paris.
Gulf countries said that they wanted to be involved in any talks between the United States and Iran, insisting that while they had a right to self-defence they preferred diplomacy.
“We emphasize the necessity of involving the GCC countries in any talks or agreements to resolve this crisis, in a way that contributes to strengthening their security and stability,” Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Jasem AlBudaiwi said in a televised speech.
AlBudaiwi also said Iran had been asking vessels to pay sums of money to cross the Strait of Homuz.
China’s top diplomat has said that a “glimmer of hope” for peace has emerged due to moves to stop the war in the Middle East, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting. “With both the United States and Iran signalling a willingness to negotiate, a glimmer of hope for peace has emerged,” Wang told Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, according to a Beijing readout published late Wednesday.
Under near-daily bombardment since February 28, Iran was hit by a new wave of Israeli strikes Thursday -- one of which Israel said had “blown up and eliminated” the Guards’ naval commander, Alireza Tangsiri, and several senior officers.
Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Tangsiri for throttling the vital Hormuz waterway. The United States also endorsed the strike. Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said the killing “makes the region safer” and warned every Iranian serving in the Revolutionary Guards to return home to avoid suffering the same fate. Iranian media reported US-Israeli attacks in the central cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, in Bandar Abbas in the south and Tabriz in the northwest -- but also Mashhad and Birjand, towards the Afghan border in an area largely spared until now.
Meanwhile, intense bombardment was reported in parts of Tehran on Thursday evening, including areas close to the Pakistani Embassy and the residence of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Mudassar Tipu, according to diplomatic sources.
Sources said the Pakistani Embassy and the ambassador’s residence are located in two separate areas of the Iranian capital. The embassy is situated near a military installation of the Iranian Army (Artesh), while Ambassador Tipu resides in a locality associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This area is known as Pasdaran where IRGC commanders and their families reside.
The bombardment occurred at around 8:00 pm local time, with heavy explosions reported in both areas. Despite the intensity of the strikes, diplomatic sources confirmed that neither the Pakistani Embassy nor the ambassador’s residence sustained any damage.
A senior Pakistani diplomat in Tehran, speaking to Geo News, said loud blasts were heard but “even the windowpanes did not shatter.” However, the official acknowledged that the diplomatic staff was shaken by the intensity of the explosions. Approximately 20 Pakistani diplomatic personnel, led by Ambassador Tipu, continue to perform their duties in Tehran amid what officials described as a highly volatile and dangerous security environment. Diplomatic sources emphasised that Pakistani staff remain stationed in the Iranian capital despite the risks, underscoring their commitment to maintaining diplomatic operations during the ongoing regional escalation.
Fresh violence flared in the Gulf, with two killed by debris from an Iranian ballistic missile intercepted near Abu Dhabi, and drones fired at both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Air raid sirens sounded and explosions rang out in several areas of Israel on Thursday as Iran launched multiple missiles, the military said, adding that the projectiles had been intercepted.
Falling shrapnel has wounded seven people since the first missile attack was detected in the morning, according to Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom.
The military said it had detected seven waves of incoming missiles over the course of the day, triggering sirens in central Israel, Jerusalem, Haifa and some areas of the occupied West Bank.
AFP footage showed a residential building in the Tel Aviv area struck by debris from an intercepted missile.
Images showed damage to an apartment, with metal fragments scattered across the scene.
Earlier, a spokesperson for Magen David Adom told public radio that several houses were damaged in the central city of Kafr Qassem. Mayor Haitham Taha said the damage was caused by cluster munitions.
Magen David Adom said six people were wounded in Kafr Qassem and one in Tel Aviv.
Central Israel also came under fire overnight from Lebanon, after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it had targeted military sites in the area. Israeli media reported that six rockets were intercepted.
In a separate statement, the military said a soldier was killed in fighting in south Lebanon on Thursday.
Israeli emergency services said a rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man in northern Israel on Thursday, as Israeli forces fight Iran-backed Hezbollah across the border.
Israel´s army and opposition leader, meanwhile, warned that their country´s ground forces—fighting Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon while its warplanes join their US ally in strikes on Iran—are stretched and need reinforcements.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid warned his country´s government for the first time that the war was taking too high a toll. “The IDF is stretched to the limit and beyond. The government is leaving the army wounded out on the battlefield,” Yair Lapid said, echoing a warning delivered a day earlier by military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. ”The government is sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy, without the necessary means, and with far too few soldiers,” Lapid said.
In a televised briefing, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: “On the Lebanese front, the forward defensive zone that we are creating requires additional IDF forces ... For that, more combat soldiers are needed in the IDF.”
The Kremlin has said that a report in the Financial Times that it was close to completing a shipment of drones to Iran was “lies”.
Russia is a close ally of Iran, but denies having sent military aid to its partner since the United States and Israel began attacking the country in February.
“There are so many lies being spread by the media... Do not pay attention to them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question.
The Financial Times, which published the report on Wednesday, cited Western intelligence officials as saying that Russia was in the process of delivering drones to Tehran and would complete the shipments by the end of March.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has called the messages from President Vladimir Putin and the people of Russia a source of encouragement. “The messages from the President and the people of Russia are a source of encouragement for us in these historic days. Today, thanks to the resistance of the Iranian people, past relations in the region have changed and new bonds are being formed,” he wrote on social media platform, X. The Iranian president added that the “security of East Asia will then be ensured by the countries of the region. On behalf of the people of Iran, I thank the government and people of Russia”.
Iraq condemned the targeting of the Gulf states and Jordan, a day after these countries issued a joint statement demanding Baghdad act to prevent attacks from its territory. The Iraqi foreign ministry “affirms the government’s categorical condemnation of any aggression or targeting of the Gulf countries and the Kingdom of Jordan”, it said in a statement, adding it was prepared to “work jointly to address them (attacks) responsibly and swiftly”.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement, warned on Thursday of a “military response” should the Middle East war require it.
India’s government says there are adequate fuel stocks despite shortages due to the Middle East war, but panicking citizens have triggered long queues at filling stations.
Spain’s parliament approved Thursday a sweeping package worth five billion euros ($5.8 billion) aimed at curbing the economic impact of the Middle East war, including steep cuts to energy taxes.
Cyprus unveiled a EUR200-million support package to shield households and businesses from the economic fallout of the Iran war, which has driven a spike in fuel prices.
Iran is letting Malaysian tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz after talks with Iranian, Turkish and other regional leaders, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday.
ship carrying more than 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil arrived in the Philippines, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP Thursday.
An American sailor was injured aboard an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea in a non-combat related incident, the US Navy in the Middle East said on Thursday.
The World Bank Group said on Thursday it will support client governments as they deal with challenges caused by the Middle East conflict, including increases in energy costs, by leveraging fast-disbursing policy financing instruments.
