Iran strikes persist even as Trump claims talks to end conflict

Fighting between Iran and the US-Israeli alliance continued unabated, even as President Donald Trump claimed talks are underway to end the conflict.

Iran launched overnight missile and drone attacks on the Israeli cities of Eilat, Dimona and Tel Aviv, as well as US bases in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a drone in its eastern region, and Kuwait said some power lines were put out of service after an Iranian attack. Sirens sounded in Bahrain.

In Iran, the Fars news agency reported US-Israeli attacks that damaged a gas pressure-regulation plant and an administrative building in the central city of Isfahan. There was also a strike on a pipeline supplying gas to the Khorramshahr Combined Cycle Power Plant in southwestern Iran, according to Fars.

The attacks continued after Trump postponed strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, citing “productive conversations” with Tehran. The US president’s claims of behind-the-scenes diplomacy were widely denied by Iranian officials, causing confusion over the participants in the talks and the parameters of a potential deal.

Brent crude traded almost 3% higher on Tuesday morning on concerns that other nations may be drawn into the conflict. Oil prices have jumped more than 40% since the conflict began on February 28.

US partners such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hardened their stances against Tehran because of its bombardment of their territories. Saudi Arabia told the US it was ready to strike Iran if its own power and water plants were targeted by the Islamic Republic, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Trump told reporters Monday that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held discussions a day earlier with a “top person” in Iran, and said the country wants to “make a deal.”

‘One more opportunity’

“Iran has one more opportunity to end its threats to America and their allies, and we hope they take it,” Trump said. “It could very well end up being a very good deal for everybody,” he added.

Axios reported Monday that Witkoff was negotiating with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf. Ghalibaf, however, said on X that no negotiations took place.

Tehran received US requests through mediators for talks to end the war, the state-run IRNA cited foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying.

“Necessary warnings were given about the severe consequences of any aggression against Iran’s critical infrastructure, emphasizing that any action against Iran’s energy infrastructure will be met with a decisive, immediate, and effective response from Iran’s armed forces,” Baghaei said.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has in recent days held calls with counterparts in Turkey, Oman, Pakistan, Egypt, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and South Korea.

The deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament ruled out negotiations with Trump. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Nikzad as saying Iran would not negotiate “with someone who is a liar and in whom there is no sign of honor, humanity, or conscience.”

Trump’s decision to begin indirect talks with Iran came after some allies cautioned that the war was quickly becoming a disaster, according to people familiar with the matter.

Regional partners told the US that permanent damage to Iranian infrastructure would almost inevitably result in a failed state after the conflict ended, according to the people who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. They also discouraged him from striking Iran’s power infrastructure, saying it caused Iran to escalate its counterstrikes, according to the people.

The conflict — now in its 25th day — has already claimed more than 4 350 lives, rattled oil markets and stoked fears of global inflation. Israeli airstrikes on a key Iranian gas field last week triggered a wave of reprisals, damaging some of the region’s main energy-producing assets, including Qatar’s giant LNG plant in Ras Laffan.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, has all but stopped. Only a few tankers have passed through since the conflict began, often after engagement with Iran.

The near standstill has driven up energy costs and forced Arab states across the Persian Gulf to cut millions of barrels of daily oil production.

Trump on Monday spoke with Pakistan’s Army chief Asim Munir about the conflict with Iran and talks with the country, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Pakistan is making a push to mediate an end to the war, people familiar with the matter said. It’s positioning Islamabad as a location for the talks, one of the people said.

Trump said the person representing the Islamic Republic in discussions wasn’t Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

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The US and Israel have said they want to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The US would take Iran’s uranium stockpile, and the two sides were already aligned, including on a ban on enrichment for civilian purposes as part of a potential deal, Trump said.

Iran has long denied pursuing atomic arms, though it has restricted United Nations inspectors’ access into the country since before an earlier round of Israel and US strikes last June.

Trump also suggested the US and Iran could jointly control the Strait of Hormuz, which could reopen soon “if it works.”

The opening suggests potentially arduous talks, with no guarantee the sides will be able to clinch a deal that ends the war. Iran has previously insisted on reparations and pledges from the US and Israel that they don’t attack in future — demands Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are unlikely to accept.

Meanwhile, Trump has ordered Marines to head to the region, including the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from Japan with more than 2,000 troops.

The talk of a deal “could be a head fake,” said Fred Fleitz, a former White House National Security Council official now at the America First Policy Institute, though he was hopeful it could lead to an end to major military operations.

Countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman have engaged in back-channel talks with Iran to contain the war and seek a ceasefire.

Iran has warned that it would lay mines across the “entire Persian Gulf” if further attacks hit its coastline.

Asked whether Israel would abide by a deal, Trump said it would be “very happy.”

Netanyahu said Trump was working on an agreement that would “safeguard our vital interests,” but signaled Israel would continue strikes in Iran and Lebanon, where it’s fighting a parallel war against Hezbollah, a militia supported by Tehran.

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