Washington (Somalia Today) – US President Donald Trump on Monday backed away from a 48-hour ultimatum to destroy Iran’s electrical grid, extending the deadline until Friday after pointing to early diplomatic contacts aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, The New York Times reported.
The sudden shift offers a possible way out of a devastating three-week conflict that has badly disrupted global energy supplies.
Trump had threatened on Saturday to strike Iranian power plants if Tehran did not immediately lift its blockade of the vital waterway.
Such an attack would be highly controversial, as Article 56 of the 1977 Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions places strict limits on military strikes against civilian electrical infrastructure.
However, as the deadline neared on Monday, the US leader announced a five-day pause.
“We’re doing a five-day period,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll see how that goes, and if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”
The White House said the pause followed “productive conversations” between US and Iranian officials for the first time since the war began in late February.
The New York Times reported that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and special envoy Steve Witkoff have been in direct contact with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Despite the back-channel communication, the diplomatic opening remains extremely fragile, with both sides holding firm to maximalist positions and the US military continuing to move strategic assets into the region.
‘Escape the quagmire’
Tehran quickly rejected Trump’s description of the talks.
Iranian officials publicly denied that any formal negotiations were underway, portraying the extended deadline as a sign of American hesitation.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, dismissed Trump’s comments on social media as a desperate attempt to “escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB echoed that line, saying Trump had “backed down” out of fear of Iranian retaliation against Gulf Arab allies.
However, four Iranian officials, speaking anonymously to The New York Times, confirmed that intermediaries had passed messages in recent days.
They described the contacts as early feelers aimed at de-escalating the conflict and avoiding strikes on critical infrastructure, rather than substantive peace negotiations.
According to the officials, Araghchi told Witkoff that Tehran has no interest in a temporary ceasefire.
Instead, Iran is demanding a lasting peace agreement with guarantees against future US and Israeli attacks, along with broad sanctions relief.
Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said Tehran is unlikely to engage in high-level summits unless Washington drops its demands.
“Not attacking energy infrastructure is a low bar,” Vaez said, adding that resolving the nuclear stockpile issue or reopening the strait remains a long way off.
Nuclear demands
Trump maintained on Monday that the United States is still demanding a complete end to Iranian nuclear enrichment and the total elimination of its uranium stockpiles, conditions Tehran has historically rejected.
The diplomatic collapse over those same nuclear demands triggered the initial wave of US and Israeli air strikes at the end of February.
As Washington looks for a diplomatic way out, Israel has signalled that it has no intention of scaling back its military campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Monday and reportedly agreed on the need to “leverage” military gains to secure a favourable agreement.
Yet Netanyahu made clear that the Israeli offensive would continue without pause.
“We are smashing the missile programme and the nuclear programme, and we continue to deal severe blows to Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said.
He also revealed that Israeli operatives had recently “eliminated two more nuclear scientists” inside Iran, underlining the covert war running alongside the conventional air strikes.
With Arab nations in the Persian Gulf unwilling to act as mediators while facing the threat of Iranian retaliation, countries including Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt have stepped in to offer diplomatic help.
Proposals for face-to-face meetings have been floated, including a possible summit involving Araghchi, Witkoff, and Kushner, or US Vice President JD Vance and Ghalibaf.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to confirm any planned meetings, saying only that “the US will not negotiate through the press.”
Global energy shock
The push for a diplomatic solution is being driven heavily by mounting domestic and economic pressure on the Trump administration to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade of the maritime chokepoint, through which roughly 20 percent of global oil supplies normally pass, has sent severe shockwaves through the world economy.
Since the conflict began in late February, global oil and gas prices have risen by as much as 40 percent.
The head of the International Energy Agency warned that the current crisis is now more severe than the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 combined.
Trump’s announcement of the five-day pause prompted a slight fall in energy prices on Monday, but market analysts warned that the relief would be short-lived without real progress.
If the talks collapse, Trump is reportedly considering much more aggressive military options, according to The New York Times.
These include deploying ground forces into Iran to physically secure highly enriched uranium or seizing Kharg Island.
Located in the Persian Gulf, Kharg Island is the beating heart of Iran’s energy sector, handling an estimated 90 percent of the country’s crude oil exports.
Seizing or destroying the terminal would effectively wipe out Iran’s daily crude exports, a move that could send global markets into an unprecedented tailspin.
Asked who would ultimately control the vital Strait of Hormuz if the conflict ends, Trump offered an unorthodox vision of joint management.
“Maybe me? Maybe me,” Trump said. “Me and the ayatollah. Whoever the ayatollah is.”
