U.S. President Donald Trump says his administration is in talks with Iran to end the war, while the Pentagon is sending additional troops to the region. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (March 30, 2026) that his administration was engaging in talks with Iran and threatened to strike its oil, power and water infrastructure if Tehran did not quickly agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran denied holding direct talks, saying it had received a proposal through intermediaries that contained “very excessive, unrealistic and irrational” demands.
“The United States of America is in serious discussions with a new and more reasonable regime to end our Military Operations in Iran,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post. “Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately “Open for Business,” we will conclude our lovely “stay” in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric[ity] Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).”
On March 10, Mr. Trump had threatened to hit Iran “20 times harder” if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz. On March 21, he gave a 48-hour deadline to Iran to reopen the strait, threatening to destroy Iran’s power plants if it did not do so. On March 23, Mr. Trump backed off, delaying his deadline by five days, which was extended to April 6.
The U.S. President said his administration is in talks with Iran to end the war, while the Pentagon is sending additional troops to the region. Iran has denied reports of negotiations and said it has got a proposal from Washington which is not acceptable. It has made its own counter-proposal.
“It is not clear how much, even inside the U.S., the country’s claims about diplomacy and negotiations are seriously taken into account,” Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said about Mr. Trump’s claims about talks. “Reactions and reflections also show that the extent of global trust in the U.S. claims in the field of diplomacy is very limited.”
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters dismissed Mr. Trump’s threats and said Tehran “is the party that will determine the end” of the ongoing war. “Even though Trump, egoistically and mistakenly, initiated a military aggression against Iran along with the child-killing Zionist regime, he well knows that he will eventually be faced with the heroic and seasoned Iranian nation and its armed forces. This is why he has resorted to other world leaders to end the war,” military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari said.
Iran and Israel continued to exchange fire on Monday, with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claiming to have struck weapons production sites in Iran.
The targets included a site where long-range anti-aircraft missiles are assembled, a manufacturing facility for components for anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and a production and R&D site for ballistic missile engines, the IDF said. Israeli authorities said Iran carried out at least six missile attacks. An oil refinery in Haifa came under attack, causing a large blaze.
A blaze after Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said that an industrial building and a fuel tanker at Israel’s Oil Refineries were hit by debris from an intercepted Iranian missile in Haifa, Israel March on 30, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Via Reuters
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they fired the 87th wave of attacks on Monday, targeting Israel and American bases in the region. According to an IRGC statement, the strikes targeted five U.S. bases in the region, as well as military positions in the southern, central and northern parts of Israel, including Haifa Bay, Kiryat Shmona, Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva, Dimona, al‑Kharj, Jufair and other locations.
Published – March 30, 2026 05:52 pm IST
