US President Donald Trump said yesterday he would pause attacks on Iran’s energy plants for 10 days at Tehran’s request and said talks with Iran were going ‘very well’, although an Iranian official dismissed a US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting as ‘one-sided and unfair’.
Trump made the comment in a Truth Social post shortly after threatening during a cabinet meeting at the White House to increase pressure on Iran if it did not make a deal.
“As per Iranian Government request ... I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8PM, Eastern Time,” Trump said in the post.
“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” he said.
The war, which has raged for nearly four weeks, has massively disrupted shipping, sending crude oil prices up nearly 40 per cent and causing a spike of nearly 67pc in shipments of liquefied natural gas to Asia. Prices of nitrogen-based fertilisers, critical to food production, have risen by nearly 50pc.
During the White House meeting, Trump said the US would become the Islamic Republic’s “worst nightmare” if it did not comply with US demands, which include opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending Tehran’s nuclear programme. He said taking control of Iran’s oil was an option, but gave no details.
The Iranian official told Reuters that a 15-point US proposal, conveyed to Tehran by Pakistan, was reviewed in detail on Wednesday by senior Iranian officials and the representative of Iran’s supreme leader. While they felt it served only US and Israeli interests, diplomacy had not ended, the official said.
Trump said during the White House cabinet meeting: “They now have the chance, that is Iran, to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and to join a new path forward.”
“We’ll see if they want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away.”
Oil had jumped to $108 a barrel yesterday and stock markets fell on renewed pessimism over ceasefire prospects as global plastics, technology, retail and tourism struggled with the impact.
But Trump’s social media post buoyed the dollar late in the day.
Trump suggested yesterday that Iran let 10 oil tankers transit the Strait of Hormuz as a goodwill gesture in negotiations, including some Pakistan-flagged vessels.
The president has sent thousands of troops to the Middle East, some of whom have already arrived, driving expectations of a ground invasion, although details remain scant.
A note seen by Reuters on Tuesday to the United Nations from Iran said “non-hostile vessels” could transit the strait if they co-ordinated with Iranian authorities.
A Thai oil tanker has passed through the strait following diplomatic co-ordination with Iran, and Malaysia said its vessels were also being allowed to transit in a sign that restrictions were loosening for some countries.
Iran would be receptive to any request from Spain related to the strait, its embassy in Madrid said, in the first such offer to an EU state.
One former senior US official said Iran, whose leadership apparatus had been shattered by the war, likely felt it needed to inflict more pain to deter future attacks.
“We’re a long way from an actual potential, real negotiation with the Iranians at this stage,” the former official said, adding that Trump would need to decide soon whether to use force to open the Strait.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed that the US had sent a “15-point action list” as a basis for negotiations to end the war.
It includes demands ranging from dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme to curbing its missiles and effectively handing over control of the strait, according to sources and reports.
Pakistan’s foreign minister said ‘indirect talks’ between the US and Iran were taking place through messages relayed by Islamabad, with other states including Turkey and Egypt also supporting mediation efforts.
Any talks, were they to happen, would likely prove very difficult given the positions laid out by both sides.
Iran has hardened its stance since the war began, demanding guarantees against future military action, compensation for losses, and formal control of the strait, Iranian sources say.
It also told intermediaries that Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire deal, regional sources said.
Trump has not identified with whom the US is negotiating in Iran, with many high-ranking officials among the thousands of people killed in the war across the Middle East.
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