WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/TEL AVIV, March 24 (Reuters) – Iran fired multiple waves of missiles at Israel after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed his threat to bomb the Islamic republic’s power grid because he called talks with Iranian officials productive, the Israeli military said.
The missiles triggered air-raid sirens in parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv, where interceptor explosions were heard. Houses in northern Israel were damaged by falling debris after being intercepted during an attack. No deaths were reported.
Trump wrote on his Truth social platform on Monday that the United States and Iran had had “very good and productive” conversations with Iran on “a complete and complete resolution of hostilities in the Middle East.”
As a result, he said, he delayed plans to strike Iran’s energy grid for five days. His statement sent stock prices higher while oil prices fell sharply below $100 a barrel, abruptly reversing a market slump caused by his weekend threats and Iran’s vow to respond. [O/R]
However, on Tuesday, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said no negotiations had yet taken place. An Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter said he was an interlocutor on the Iranian side of the talks, and those gains were in jeopardy on Tuesday.
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Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it was launching new attacks against the United States. He described Trump’s words as “psychological warfare” that was “outdated” and had no impact on the fight in Tehran.
Global markets on Monday added five days to Monday’s ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, within 48 hours.
But those gains were under threat on Tuesday as markets weighed conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington. U.S. Treasury yields moved higher and the dollar regained ground as the world continues to grapple with an energy shock triggered by Iran’s threat to shipping across the Strait.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 4.2% to $104.21 a barrel, reversing a 10% decline since Monday, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 4.3% to $91.93 a barrel.
“The underlying situation remains extremely fragile or flammable,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
“Points of Agreement”
Trump told reporters that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who had been negotiating with Iran before the war, had held discussions with senior Iranian officials until Sunday night and would continue on Monday.
“We had very, very strong negotiations. We’ll see where they go. I would say we reached major agreements, almost all of them,” he said on Monday.
A European official said that while there were no direct negotiations between the two countries, Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states were sending messages.
A Pakistani official and another source told Reuters that direct talks to end the war could take place as early as this week in Islamabad.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that he spoke to Trump on Monday and that Israel would continue its attacks on Lebanon and Iran.
But Netanyahu said Trump believed it was possible to “leverage the tremendous achievements of the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. military to achieve the goals of the war through an agreement — an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests.”
While there was no immediate confirmation that the talks were indeed going as Trump described, Iran’s foreign ministry described moves to ease tensions.
According to reports, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his Omani counterpart reviewed relevant developments in the Strait of Hormuz and agreed that the two countries would continue consultations.
U.S. Vice President Vance, along with Witkoff and Kushner, are expected to meet with Iranian officials in Islamabad this week following Trump’s call with Army Chief of Staff Asim Munir, Pakistani officials said.
The White House confirmed the call between Trump and Munir. Pakistan’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iranian media reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the impact of the war on regional and global security.
Since the United States and Israel launched war against Iran on February 28, Iran has effectively blocked the critical Strait of Hormuz. More than 2,000 people have died in the war.
Iran has responded to Trump’s threats to attack its power plants, saying it would hit the infrastructure of U.S. allies in the Middle East, raising the possibility that severe disruptions to global energy supplies could last longer than previously expected.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Ariba Shahid in Karachi and Saad Sayeed in Bangkok; Additional reporting by Reuters bureau; Writing by David Brunnstrom and Steve Coates; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Michael Perry)
