Trump extends energy-attack pause, claims Iran talks ongoing

US President Donald Trump again pushed back his deadline for Iran to strike a deal with the US or face more attacks, saying talks with the country were going “very well.”

Trump said he would extend by 10 days his pledge to refrain from attacks on Iranian energy sites, his second extension since Saturday’s threat to eviscerate Iran’s power plants in the absence of a deal.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump repeated a timeline of four to six weeks for military operations and said the American war effort was “ahead of schedule.”

But the extended deadline allows more time for the US to amass forces. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed Pentagon officials, reported Thursday night that the defence department was considering sending as many as 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, giving Trump more options.

“As per Iranian Government 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 in a social media post on Thursday. “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.”

Asian stocks fell Friday following losses on Wall Street. Brent Crude Oil retreated after earlier surging on Thursday.

It’s still unclear who the US is negotiating with since multiple top Iranian officials have been killed. Trump told Fox News that Iran had sought a seven-day reprieve, and he gave them 10. The Journal later reported that mediators said Tehran hadn’t asked for the 10-day reprieve.

Iran earlier Thursday, through the Tasnim news agency, indicated it was still awaiting a response after rejecting a US 15-point plan to end the war and offering its own conditions. Those include a guarantee that the US and Israel won’t resume attacks, the payment of war reparations and recognition of Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran also wants an end to the war on all fronts, Tasnim reported, a likely reference to Israel’s parallel war against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Trump said in a cabinet meeting that Iran had allowed 10 boats of oil to sail through as a goodwill gesture. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a US insurance programme to boost shipping will start soon, while French military officials said Thursday that they and France’s partners are working on an initiative to restore freedom of navigation once clashes subside.

Iranian lawmakers are drafting a bill to impose a transit toll, according to the Fars news agency. In the meantime, elevated energy prices prompted the OECD to sharply increase its inflation forecast for Group of 20 economies this year to 4% – with an even higher pace in the US.

But fighting continues. The Israel Defence Forces reported air strikes on Tehran and Isfahan, while Iran’s state TV announced a wave of missile strikes against Israel. Two people were killed after debris from an intercepted missile fell in Abu Dhabi.

More than 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict, according to governments and non-governmental agencies. Around three-quarters of fatalities have been in Iran, while almost 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced. Dozens of people have been killed in Israel and Arab Gulf states.

Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are considering joining the war, several people with knowledge of the situation said this week.

“We can’t let Iran hold the US, the United Arab Emirates and the global economy hostage,” UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “A simple ceasefire isn’t enough.”

Trump has publicly signalled any peace agreement must prohibit Iran ever obtaining a nuclear weapon or enriching radioactive material for civilian purposes. The US plan also stipulates that the Islamic Republic use a reduced missile arsenal in self-defence only, according to people familiar with the matter. Concessions to Iran would include sanctions relief.

The administration isn’t providing answers on the scope and purpose of military operations in closed-door briefings, according to US Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, who said she’s working on legislation to authorise operations in order to set an end goal for the war.

“I’m worried we get out of town and the president goes in with ground troops aiming for a full takeover,” she said.