Iran war: Trump extends pause on energy sector strikes

US President Donald Trump has said the US would pause the period of "Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days" to April 6.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he added that the move came after a request from the Iranian government. 

Trump also wrote that talks were "ongoing" and "going very well."

Over the weekend, Trump had said the US would bomb Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran did not allow ships to transit through the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. He later delayed the ultimatum until Friday and has now extended the pause again.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday it was in the "interest" of all G7 nations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.

"It's in their interest to help," Rubio said shortly before departing to France for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers outside Paris on Friday.

This will mark Rubio's first trip abroad since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28.

Rubio, who skipped the first day of G7 talks on Thursday, said there was "progress" in talks with Iran but didn't comment on the specifics.

"There are intermediary countries that are passing messages, and progress has been made," Rubio said, calling it an "ongoing process."

The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.  

The French Defense Ministry said in a statement that 35 countries joined a discussion today on securing thesafe transit of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

A videoconference of defense staff chiefs focused on how to reopen shipping "once the intensity of hostilities has sufficiently decreased," the statement said.

That could entail a "strictly defensive" mission to escort commercial vessels and restore freedom of navigation, the ministry added.

The Iranian Embassy in Spain said Tehran would be receptive to any request from Madrid related to the Strait of Hormuz because, the embassy said, Spain respects ‌international law, in ⁠what ⁠is the first such concession offered to an EU state.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of Europe's most progressive leaders, was one of the first European leaders to have opposed the US-Israeli war on Iran. He has since remained firm in his opposition to the conflict.

Spain has also denied US use of its bases, with Trump saying earlier this month that "we could use their base if we want," referencing the Rota and Moron installations in southern Spain that the US and Spain share, but which remain under Spanish command.

Ukraine has no indication that the US plans to redirect weapons intended for Kyiv to the Middle East, Kyiv's envoy to the military alliance told the AFP news agency on Thursday. 

Alyona Getmanchuk was responding to a Washington Post report that said the US could divert weapons from Ukraine to the Middle East.

"We have received no signals — either from NATO or from the United States — that weapons allocated to Ukraine under the PURL program could be redirected to the Middle East," Getmanchuk said.

"Nor have there been any indications that the war in Iran has led to changes in the availability of the necessary weapons for Ukraine within the framework of PURL."

The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, initiative has ensured the purchase and delivery of select military equipment to Kyiv, paid for by Ukraine's allies, even as the Trump administration has cut off most of the Pentagon's direct security assistance.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended the 32-member alliance in public remarks Thursday as the coalition faces criticism from US President Donald Trump for not supporting the US-Israeli military campaign in Iran.

Rutte has also faced criticism in Europe for supporting the US-Israeli war on Iran that most NATO members view as unwarranted.

"Iran is an exporter of chaos to the region and to the world for many years now. Let's not be naive about that," Rutte said. "What the United States is doing now is degrading that capability. And yes, I applaud that." 

But Rutte also responded to  Trump's call for NATO countries to help the US reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Rutte said Europeans take time for "good reasons" because they weren't given advance notice of the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28.

"The good news now is that thanks to the leadership from... six countries, the UK, France, Italy, and Germany, and Japan, and the Netherlands... by now over 30 countries have committed to come together to discuss the where and when, when it comes to making sure that the sea lanes stay open," Rutte said. 

On Thursday, Rutte also praised NATO members for spending more on defense last year. 

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas has accused Russia of helping Iran to "kill Americans" and target US bases by providing intelligence and drones. She suggested Washington should pile more pressure on Moscow if it wants Iran to cease attacks.

I’m at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in a picturesque French countryside abbey. As she headed into the building, I asked Kallas how she plans to convince the US to get tougher on Russia amid fears Ukraine support will be sidelined as the Iran war escalates.

"We are raising this issue that we see that Russia is helping Iran with intelligence to target Americans, to kill Americans," she said. "Russia is also supporting Iran now with drones, so that they can attack neighboring countries, and also US military bases."

"These wars are very much interlinked. If America wants the war in the Middle East to stop —  Iran to stop attacking — then they should also put pressure on Russia, so that they are not able to help them."

Kallas won’t get the chance to pass that message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio until Friday, as he is skipping the first of two days of talks near Paris. 

In a speech on Tuesday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Trump's aggression against Iran was a "truly avoidable, unnecessary war" and in violation of international law.

Taking questions from reporters during Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Trump likened Steinmeier's statement to the US assistance to Ukraine in its war with Russia, which he said was "not our war, we helped, but Ukraine's done well."

Trump, who while campaigning for a second term said repeatedly he could swiftly end the war in Ukraine, added, "if I can solve that, it will be a great honor to do it. I wish it could have gone faster."

Steinmeier, in his largely ceremonial role as the head of state, can express views that government ministers may choose not to state publicly for political reasons. 

Germany's head of government, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has called on the US and Israel to end the war against Iran by diplomatic means.

The top US commander in the Middle East hailed an Israeli strike that Israel earlier said killedIranian naval commander Alireza Tangsiri.

Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said Tangsiri's death put Iran's navy on a path toward "irreversible decline" after weeks of US and Israeli strikes that he said destroyed most of its larger ships and stripped it of much of its ability to project power.

The US has claimed to have destroyed most of Iran's naval capabilities, but Iran has smaller boats capable of laying mines and its military has anti-ship cruise missiles that can be launched from shore. These capabilities are considered sufficient to prevent ships from transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas shipping lane. 

Iran has not acknowledged Tangsiri's killing.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during the Cabinet meeting that war in Iran is "unlike Iraq. This isn't a tie. This is not parity. This is not chaos. This is success. Pure American success."

Hegseth also insisted the fight against Iran was not an "endless war."

"This is stuff for the history books; This is stuff for legacy," Hegseth said during the Cabinet meeting.

Hegseth claimed that Iran had "a modern military," but that "never in recorded history has a nation's military been so quickly and so effectively neutralized."

Hegseth noted that the war's objectives "remain clear: No nukes, no navy, and complete dismantling of their missile program and defense industrial base."

Trump noted that the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows, remained effectively closed because of the war.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the US presented a 15-point "action list" to Iran through Pakistan during the Cabinet meeting.

Witkoff indicated there was a "strong possibility" an agreement could be reached if "we can convince Iran this is the inflection point" and that there are "no good alternatives" for Tehran.  His comments came after Trump cast doubt over the prospect of a peace deal with Iran (see below).

"If a deal happens, it will be great for the country, for Iran and the entire region and the world at large," Witkoff said.

Trump suggested in his Cabinet meeting that he wasn't sure that he was "willing" to make a deal with Iran anymore.

Trump said, as we mentioned in our post below, that Iran was "begging" to cut a deal.

He then added that: "I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we're willing to do that."

Trump also suggested that it might be too late to reach an agreement, saying, "They should have done that four weeks ago."

US President Donald Trump said at the start of a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that he wanted to "set the record straight" that he isn't the one pushing for a deal on Iran. 

"They're begging to make a deal, not me," Trump said.

Trump has often repeated his claim that Washington has the upper hand in the war against Iran. But Iranian officials have so far declined a ceasefire proposal backed by the Trump administration to end the war.

"Anybody would know they’re talking," Trump said. "They’re not fools, they’re very smart actually in a certain way. And they're great negotiators. I say they're lousy fighters, but they’re great negotiators." 

Neither Trump nor anyone in his administration has specified who in the Iranian regime they are talking to, directly or through intermediaries. 

Trump earlier in the day posted a string of messages on social media, including one in which he warned Iranian officials to get "serious soon" before "it is too late."

Iran has vowed to fight until "complete victory" and end the war on its own terms.

Iran responded to the US 15-point plan last night, semiofficial state news agency Tasnim has also reported.

The report said Tehran's response was passed on through intermediaries. Tehran is now waiting on Washington's response.

Pakistan has been facilitating back-channel communications between Iran and the US.

Iran set out its own conditions to end the warafter rejecting a ceasefire plan backed by the Trump administration. 

Iran's initial response to the US 15-point plan to end the war, which was conveyed to Pakistan, was that it was "one-sided and unfair," Reuters news agency reports.

The report cited an unnamed Iranian official.

The official told Reuters that a path forward might still be found if realism prevailed in Washington.

The ​official ‌said the proposal "was reviewed in detail on Wednesday night by senior ‌Iranian officials and the representative of ‌Iran's ​supreme leader."

"In brief, the proposal suggests that Iran would relinquish its ability to defend ​itself in exchange for a vague plan to lift sanctions," he ⁠said, ​adding that the ​proposal lacked the minimum requirements for success.

He said ​there was "still ‌no arrangement for negotiations, and no plan for talks ​appears realistic ⁠at this stage," while Turkey and Pakistan were ⁠trying ​to help "establish common ground between Iran and the United States and reduce differences."