US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House. AFP
"As per the Iranian Government's request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
"Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media and others, they are going very well."
Earlier in the day, holding his first cabinet meeting since the start of the joint US-Israeli operation, Trump insisted that Iran was being "beat to shit" and was "begging" for a deal, despite Tehran's denials.
But Trump rejected reports that he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned.
"I read a story today that I'm desperate to make a deal," Trump told reporters. "I'm the opposite of desperate. I don't care."
During the 90-minute televised meeting at the White House, Trump veered between repeated threats to "obliterate" Iran and claims it was on the verge of capitulating.
"They want to make a deal. The reason they want to make a deal is that they have just been beaten to shit," Trump said.
Citing the original timeframe of four to six weeks that he gave shortly after the US-Israeli offensive began on February 28, Trump said: "We're extremely, really, a lot ahead of schedule."
The US leader said Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz as a "present" to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.
But he then said that taking control of Iran's oil was an "option," as the United States effectively did with Venezuela after toppling Nicolas Maduro, who appeared in a US court on Thursday.
Trump's global envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed on Thursday for the first time that Washington had sent a 15-point "action list" via mediator Pakistan and said there were "strong signs" Iran might make a deal.
Top US diplomat Marco Rubio appeared to quote rappers Public Enemy as he said that "every day, the Department of War lets the drummer get wicked over every portion of Iran."
Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth hailed Trump for "doing the work of the free world."
"We pray for a deal, and we welcome a deal," Hegseth said. "But in the meantime...the Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs."
Iran has responded through unnamed intermediaries to a 15-point US plan to end the war, news agency Tasnim reported on Thursday, and is now waiting for Washington's reply.
The exact contents of the US plan, conveyed to Iran via Pakistan according to Pakistani officials, are not officially known.
"Iran's response to the 15 points proposed by the US was officially sent last night through intermediaries, and Iran is awaiting the other side's response," Tasnim reported, citing an informed source.
Citing an “informed source”, the news agency said Iran sent the response last night through intermediaries. In its response, Iran has stipulated its own conditions for an end to the conflict, which were also reported yesterday by other Iranian media outlets. Those conditions include:
- An end to “aggression and terror”.
- Guarantees preventing the recurrence of war against Iran.
- Compensation for war damage and reparations.
- End of war “on all fronts” and against “all resistance groups” across the Middle East.
- Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, stating that it is Tehran’s “natural and legal right”.
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