US president Donald Trump extended a pause on threats to bomb Iranian energy plants by 10 days as Iran labelled Washington’s proposals to end nearly fours weeks of conflict as “one-sided and unfair”.
The diplomatic impasse over the possibility of ceasefire talks has set the stage for another escalation in the Middle East war.
Thousands more US troops have neared the region while Tehran has tightened its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which affects one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, sparking mounting concerns over a global energy crisis.
Trump said on Thursday that the US will be Iran’s “worst nightmare” if they don’t agree to end the Middle East war, before announcing that he would extend a five-day pause on striking energy plants to ten days.
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In comments during a White House cabinet meeting, he reiterated his desire that Iran “permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions” and “chart a new path forward”.
“We’ll see if they want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare,” he said. “In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away unimpeded.”
He also said that taking control of Iran’s oil was an “option”, comparing it to the deal Washington made with Venezuela.
He confirmed that Tehran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway as a “present” to show Iran was serious about negotiations.
A senior Iranian official described Washington’s plan for ending the fighting as “one-sided and unfair”.
It lacked the minimum requirements for success and served only US and Israeli interests, said the official, although stressing that diplomacy had not ended.
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Oil jumped to $105 a barrel on Thursday and stock markets fell on renewed pessimism over ceasefire prospects.
The Pentagon is understood to be preparing military options for a big attack on Iran to break the deadlock, including invading and occupying one or several of Iran’s coastal islands or seizing the country’s oil tankers.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the country’s enemies were “preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands with support from one of the countries in the region”, citing intelligence.
“Our forces are monitoring all enemy movements, and if they take any step, all the vital infrastructure of that regional country will be targeted with relentless, unceasing attacks,” he wrote on X.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has told aides he wants a rapid end to the war with Iran, saying that he wants to wrap up the conflict in the coming weeks.
Israeli sources admitted that the country’s political and military leadership does not know how much time remains in the war and that they are struggling to read Trump’s intentions.
Amid ongoing fighting during the month-long conflict, Israeli forces killed the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy, Alireza Tangsiri, the individual they claim was responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
“This man had a great deal of blood on his hands,” said Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “This is yet another example of the co-operation between us and our friend, the United States, towards the common goal of achieving the objectives of the war.”
Six Gulf states issued a joint statement condemning the ongoing rocket attacks from Iran and their proxies, terming the actions a “clear breach of international law”.
Wave after wave of rocket and drone attacks from Iran and Lebanon sent Israelis rushing to their bomb shelters again on Thursday. A man was killed in a rocket strike in the northern city of Nahariya and an 11-year-old girl suffered a heart attack during a siren alert. – Additional reporting: Reuters
