A member of the Iranian Red Crescent comforts a resident of a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran. AFP
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump wrote: "I am pleased to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”
He added: “Based on the tenor and tone of these in-depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, which will continue throughout the week, 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.”
On Saturday, President Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran to "reopen" the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants across the country.
In a post on his Truth Social, Trump wrote, “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
Minutes after the Trump threat, the military operational command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fired back, stating that "in the case any attack by the enemy on Iran fuel or energy infrastructure, all energy facilities, communication networks, and water desalination plants linked to the US and Israel in the region would be targetted."
Shortly before Donald Trump posted his Truth Social statement, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, wrote on X that his country was “working intensively” to “put in place safe passage arrangements” for the Strait of Hormuz.
“Whatever your view of Iran, this war is not of their making. This is already causing widespread economic problems and I fear they promise to get much worse if the war continues,” Albusaidi, who mediated the latest nuclear talks between Iran and the US, wrote.
Of all the Gulf countries, Oman, which has frequently mediated between the US and Iran, was the most vocal and publicly proactive in trying to halt a US attack on Iran.
Writing in The Economist on Wednesday, Albusaidi said the US and Israel’s “unlawful” war on Iran was “a grave miscalculation” which put the Gulf economies in harm’s way.
He said: “This is not America’s war, and there is no likely scenario in which both Israel and America will get what they want from it.”
Since 28 February, the US-Israeli war on Iran has killed nearly 3,400 and wounded nearly 20,000, including thousands of women and children; destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of residential and commercial units; and levelled tens of hospitals, clinics, schools, and factories across the country.
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