President Donald Trump issued another delay for his strikes against Iranian power plants, citing progress in peace talks.
Trump called off his promised strikes first on Monday, saying progress was being made toward a deal to end the war. Iran quickly denied that any such talks were taking place, but Trump insisted they were again on Thursday, delaying the crippling strikes further.
“As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.”
The post had an immediate impact on oil markets, with futures on Brent crude falling by 3% in the minutes after the announcement. Futures on U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate also fell in the minutes after.
Trump gave further details in a call to Fox News, saying he gave them 10 days instead of the requested seven as thanks for Iran’s “gift” of a few oil tankers it let through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran said to me, very nicely, through my people, could we have more time? Because we are talking about tomorrow night, which is pretty quick,” he said.
The president said the Iranians were “very thankful,” though he voiced frustration that they had repeatedly denied speaking with Washington.
Earlier in the day, Trump gave an update on the war and the negotiations during his Cabinet meeting at the White House.
The president claimed that Iran, not the United States, was “begging” for a deal despite rejecting the Trump administration’s 15-point proposal because “they have been just beat to s***.”
Trump had expressed some doubts then that the two sides would come to an agreement before his self-imposed negotiating window expired at the end of the week and declined to say if he planned on extending the window in favor of moving ahead with attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure before announcing as much in his Truth Social post.
Trump’s threats to destroy Iran’s power plants came as Tehran refuses to submit to the U.S.’s key demands despite most of its leadership being killed and its military being degraded severely. Though the U.S. and Israel have inflicted heavily one-sided casualties and damage against the Iranians, Tehran has been able to wreak havoc on the global economy by blockading the Strait of Hormuz and attacking Gulf oil infrastructure — two tactics that are noticeably difficult to counter.
Trump has repeatedly said that the war with Iran is essentially over.
“Well, we’ve already won the war. Militarily, we’ve totally won the war,” he told Fox News when asked what a victory would look like.
The administration is banking on the destruction of Iran’s power plants bringing the regime to its knees, but it would present an unparalleled situation in modern times — the sudden deprivation of power from a country of over 90 million people.
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The country would quickly experience nationwide blackouts. Hospitals would cease operating, transportation would grind to a halt, communications would be cut off, and water treatment and desalination plants would stop operations. Some regions would be cut off from easy access to food and water, possibly triggering one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory.
Such a move would also be certain to turn most of the Iranian population against the U.S. in a war in which Washington is relying on harnessing public support against the Islamic regime.
