Washington/Tel Aviv: Iran struck Israel with waves of missiles on Tuesday, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s talk of productive negotiations as “fake news” and shrugging off his five-day delay on bombing Tehran’s power grid.
Israel’s military reported air raid sirens piercing Tel Aviv and other areas, with loud sounds of interception blasts. Debris from one such strike damaged homes in northern Israel, but no deaths were confirmed, Reuters reported.
Trump wrote on Truth Social platform on Monday that the US and Iran had held “very good and productive” conversations about a “complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East.” As a result, he postponed for five days a plan to target Iran’s energy grid — a decision that lifted share prices and drove oil below $100 a barrel, snapping back from the market swoon triggered by his threats and Iran’s vows to respond.
However, relief evaporated on Tuesday when Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf — named by an Israeli official and two sources as Iran’s interlocutor — denied negotiations outright. “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,” he posted on X.
The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) termed Trump’s rhetoric “worn out” psychological operations while attacking US targets. Brent crude rebounded 4.2% to $104.21 a barrel, while US crude gained 4.3% to $91.93.
Trump stood firm, telling reporters that envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner conducted “very, very strong talks” with a senior Iranian official stretching into Sunday evening, securing “almost all points of agreement.” The White House confirmed his discussion with Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, while a Pakistani official indicated US VP JD Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner could meet with Iranian officials in Islamabad this week to negotiate an end to the war.
A European official clarified no direct US-Iran talks occurred — Egypt, Pakistan and the Gulf states are shuttling messages even as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reviewed Strait of Hormuz tensions with Oman’s counterpart, pledging continued consultations. Iranian media noted President Masoud Pezeshkian’s chat with Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif on war’s global fallout.
Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed ongoing strikes in Lebanon and Iran. Yet he acknowledged U.S. optimism: leveraging “mighty achievements” by the IDF and U.S. military for a deal preserving Israel’s “vital interests.”
Meanwhile, after speaking with Trump, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said strikes on Lebanon and Iran will continue, while noting potential for a deal “leveraging the mighty achievements obtained by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the US military, in order to realize the goals of the war in a deal – a deal that will preserve our vital interests.”
The Strait of Hormuz — chokepoint for 20% of world oil and LNG — remains effectively shut since the US-Israel war erupted February 28, claiming over 2,000 lives.
