Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran have had very good, productive discussions in the past two days regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East. Due to the nature and tone of these detailed, constructive discussions, which will continue this week, I have instructed the War Department to postpone any military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and energy infrastructure for a period of 5 days, pending the success of the ongoing meetings and negotiations.
Change of tone from Trump: the President of the United States, who threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened by Monday, March 23, now announces the postponement of any attack on energy infrastructure.
In a post entirely in capital letters on his Truth Social network, Donald Trump stated on Monday that his country and Iran have had “very good, productive discussions about a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”
This statement immediately caused “huge tremors” in the markets, with a significant drop in oil prices and an increase in the FTSE 100 stock index, as reported by the BBC.
Witkoff, Kushner, and the Iranian Parliament President?
Shortly after Donald Trump’s message, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited by Iranian media, denied being in talks with the United States, stating that there was “no dialogue” between Tehran and Washington, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump later told journalists on Monday that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been in discussions with a senior Iranian official since Sunday, March 22, as reported by the business journal. The President stated that there were several points of agreement between the two parties.
“They will not have nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that he hoped for the swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He also mentioned that this agreement would “automatically involve a regime change, but we are dealing with people we find reasonable,” citing the example of Venezuela.
If Trump did not name this interlocutor, an Israeli source told Axios that Witkoff and Kushner were in discussion with the President of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. The same source stated that a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, could take place this week with senior US officials.
Giving Himself Some Wiggle Room
Trump’s initial post, which temporarily reassured the markets, “mainly gave the President some wiggle room as the conflict had sent shockwaves through the global economy,” commented New York Times journalist David Sanger.
“President Trump now has until Friday — likely extendable — to find a way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,” essential to global oil or gas supply. “And if negotiations fail,” he will have additional military options with the deployment of thousands of Marines heading to the Middle East.
The same New York newspaper reports that Iranian media close to the regime are presenting this announcement as a “retreat” by Trump out of fear of Iran’s promised retaliation.
