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Trump says strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure paused for 5 days amid US-Iran talks

In a social media post, Trump wrote that the U.S. and Iran have had “very good and productive conversations” in the past two days.

By Eric Bazail-Eimil, Paul McLeary and Cheyanne M. Daniels

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States would pause “any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure” for five days as Tehran and Washington engage in diplomatic negotiations.

In a social media post, Trump wrote in all caps that the U.S. and Iran have had “very good and productive conversations” in the past two days and that the pause on planned strikes against energy infrastructure came as a direct result of the “in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations.” Trump added that the talks “will continue throughout the week.”

The move indicates that a diplomatic off-ramp to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran could be in reach. It also followed increasing unease from the U.S.’s allies in the Middle East and Europe over the conflict continuing to spiral.

Trump on Saturday threatened significant strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure if the country didn’t “FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT,” the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which a significant part of the globe’s oil travels.

The status of the strait has been of significant concern to Trump. The president has increasingly pressured historic American allies to play a role in securing safe passage for ships through the waterway, disparaging NATO as an unreliable partner when most European countries balked at his call and saying he never actually wanted their help.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday that “we are seeing our allies come around, as they should.”

In an earlier interview with POLITICO, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure could constitute war crimes.

Trump just days ago also downplayed the possibility of talks with Iran. On Friday, he told reporters at the White House that the U.S. and Iran “could have dialogue, but I don’t want to do a ceasefire,” saying any halt to military actions would be pointless “when you’re literally obliterating the other side.”

Hours after those comments, he suggested on Truth Social — the social media site that he owns — that the U.S. “is “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down.”

The ongoing war has generally been met with disapproval by Americans. A CBS News/YouGov survey released Sunday found that 57 percent of Americans believed the conflict was going either very or somewhat badly for the U.S.

Still, Congress has been unwilling to block further action by the administration.

Democrats have tried to pass a war powers resolution, but the Senate last week defeated the Democrat-introduced legislation to halt the campaign against Iran.

It was the second vote — and second failure in the upper chamber. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to side with Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) broke from his party to oppose the legislation.

Democrats have vowed to continue forcing votes on the issue.

Republicans have remained broadly supportive of the president’s efforts. Results from The POLITICO Poll released last week found that most Trump supporters backed the strikes.

One former defense official, granted anonymity to discuss the issue, expressed concern over the continued closure of the strait, saying the U.S. is “in a race against time to reopen the strait,” because the longer that commercial shipping stalled “we are demonstrating to the world that a middle power of relatively modest sophistication can deny command of the sea to the world’s most powerful navy.”

The U.S. has two aircraft carriers in the region, although the Ford aircraft carrier had to head for an unplanned port visit last week after a fire on board injured several sailors and caused hundreds more to lose their sleeping spaces.

There are dozens of fighter planes and bombers spread throughout the Middle East and at the British base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean that continue bombing runs, and two Marine units with around 5,000 Marines are currently en route from the Pacific.

Those units also come with their own air wings, and the Marines could go ashore on Iran’s Kharg island in the Persian Gulf to seize Iran’s primary oil shipment point, essentially cutting off the flow of Iranian oil.

The closure of the strait has forced Trump to shift war aims from destroying Iran’s missile making capacity to opening the critical waterway, with Apache helicopters and A-10 fighter jets now engaged in the battle over shipping lanes by targeting remaining Iranian naval assets.

Iran still maintains a stockpile of thousands of sea mines that it has yet to employ in any large measure, but if used could shut down the narrow passage completely. Two of the U.S. Navy’s three minesweeper vessels are out of the Gulf on repair, and their return date is uncertain.

With ships unable to safely pass through the strait, oil prices have surged, hovering near $100 per barrel for days. Trump’s announcement early Monday at least initially sent oil prices plummeting.

As oil prices rise, so have gas prices. Trump initially dismissed the rising cost of fuel, telling Reuters in early March, “if they rise, they rise.”

But in an effort to lower the costs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday announced sanctions on about 140 million barrels of Iranian oil would be lifted.

“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury,” Bessent said.