Trump halts attacks on energy infrastructure and says he is negotiating with Iran, but the regime denies it.

Washington/BarcelonaDonald Trump's ultimatums are being blown away by the wind, swept off their feet by reality. After having the world on tenterhooks since Saturday gave Tehran a 48-hour deadline To reopen the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, under the threat of bombing its power plants and nuclear facilities, the US president has backtracked via social media. In a message to Truth Social this Monday, he asserted that after two days of "very good and productive" talks with Iran, he ordered the military to postpone any attacks against Iranian energy infrastructure for at least five days, that is, until Friday. These days will be used to continue negotiations. Speaking to reporters as he left Palm Beach for an event in Memphis, Trump added that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff are leading the talks with Iran and that the ayatollahs have agreed not to develop a nuclear weapon. According to the tycoon, the negotiations will continue, as the Kushner-Witkoff team is speaking with a "very important" person in Tehran, but he did not reveal who it is. Trump has indeed said he is not the new supreme leader. Iran took minutes to celebrate Trump's decision as a setback, and Iranian state agencies denied that the regime is negotiating anything with Washington.

Israel, which in recent hours has continued attacking Iranian energy infrastructure, appears to have shown itself favorable to these negotiations. In a new video posted on social media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that he spoke with Trump by phone, who told him he sees it as possible to "leverage" the military advances against Iran to "achieve the objectives of the war through agreements." Even so, Netanyahu ignored his American counterpart's order to halt attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure and made it clear that he will continue attacking southern Lebanon and Iran. "We will preserve our vital interests throughout the entire situation," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli's words underscore how The interests of Washington and those of Tel Aviv are becoming increasingly divergent.As the military campaign progresses, the first public disagreements between the two partners emerged last week. While Trump was willing to become involved in the conflict alongside Netanyahu, it now seems the Israeli leader is unwilling to back down when his US counterpart asks him to.

The mobilization of American troops continues

Trump's ultimatum, which was set to expire early this morning, represented an escalation of the confrontation. In response, high-ranking Iranian political and military officials had threatened to attack energy infrastructure throughout the region and completely block the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime bottleneck through which 20% of the world's oil traffic passed until the Israeli and US attacks on February 28. The Iranian Security Council issued this threat on Monday morning. of mining the strait, where it has so far allowed passage to some ships from allied countries. Against this backdrop, Asian markets had opened the week with sharp losses, and the price of Brent crude had risen to $114 a barrel. Tehran had also threatened the Gulf petro-monarchies with playing a very dangerous card: attack the desalination plants in the region on which the water supply dependsTrump's subsequent announcement, however, turned the markets around again: relief was immediate and the price of crude oil fell below $100 a barrel. From Trump's message, however, it remains unclear how a solution to the conflict can be reached. Saturday marked the fourth week of the conflict, the timeframe initially set by Washington for an objective that has shifted over time: from the initial focus on regime change with the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to the elimination of Iranian ballistic missiles and the reduction of the threat posed to Israel and US interests in the region. The targets have been lowered as Iran's actions have increased the economic cost of the war for the United States and its allies in the region, both Israel and especially the Gulf petro-monarchies. Now, in reality, Trump says he is talking to the same regime that three weeks ago claimed was doomed. And the fact is, the ayatollahs' regime has survived the assassination of its leaders and military and intelligence personnel and still has military cards to play to provoke a global energy crisis.

The military front shows no signs of letting up

Meanwhile, attacks have continued across the region. The Israeli military has claimed to have launched a wave of large-scale attacks against infrastructure in Tehran. Loud explosions were heard in the center, south, and east of the capital, as well as in the western city of Karaj. In the port city of Bandar Abbas, a state broadcasting station was attacked, killing one employee. Residential buildings were also bombed in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia, and rescue teams are searching for people under the rubble, according to the state-run Nour News Agency. US Central Command claims to have destroyed a turbine engine manufacturing plant in Qom province, in central Iran, which they say was used to produce drone and aircraft components for the Revolutionary Guard.

For its part, Iran has continued attacking Gulf countries, with two ballistic missiles headed toward Riyadh. One was shot down, and the other landed in a desert area. A spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard claimed that its forces attacked Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain. Iranian missiles have also been intercepted in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. In Israel, there have been alerts in Jerusalem and explosions in the center of the country. The death toll from Saturday's Iranian attack on the cities of Dimona (home to the country's main nuclear facility) and Arad has risen to 180 wounded.

In the parallel war being waged by Israel in southern Lebanon, which has already resulted in at least 1,029 deaths according to local authorities—around 100 of them children—Israeli bombing has intensified in preparation for a previously announced ground invasion.