Trump suspends US strikes on Iran’s power plants for five days, pending further talks
The United States President Donald Trump has said the US would hold back from knocking out Iran’s power plants for five days, in order to give room for fresh talks.
Trump made the remarks on Truth Social on Monday, noting that the US and Iran held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East” over the last two days.
This is coming 12 hours ahead of Trump’s deadline to commence strikes, with the timing of his original threat suggesting a deadline of 23:44 GMT on Monday.
The US President said that recent conversations with Iranian officials had been “in depth, detailed, and constructive”.
“I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions,” he said.
Following the remarks, the price of Brent crude dropped by over 6.6% Monday morning, while the European gas price index TTF eased by 3% and stabilised around €57.60 per megawatt-hour.
Trump had given Iran just 48 hours to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, or face the obliteration of its power plants.
The Strait of Hormuz is a crucial sea route that connects key Middle East oil and gas fields of the Persian Gulf to world markets.
The Strait blockade has pushed up prices of oil globally, prompting the International Energy Agency (IEA) to order the largest release from emergency oil stockpiles in history.
The IEA has called the current crisis the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”, recommending measures to reduce car use and air travel in order to save fuel.
