{"id":33035,"date":"2026-03-24T00:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/33035\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T00:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:09:12","slug":"iran-denies-talks-with-us-while-trump-cites-productive-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/33035\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran Denies Talks With US While Trump Cites Productive Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran on Monday threatened<\/a> to deploy naval mines across the entire Persian Gulf if any invasion or attack targets its coasts or islands, while reiterating warnings of retaliation against regional energy and water infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Iran\u2019s Defense Council warned that \u201cany attempt by the enemy to target Iran\u2019s coasts or islands\u201d would<\/a> lead to the mining of all access routes in the Persian Gulf and along its coasts, using various types of naval mines, including drifting mines. It also said Iran would respond with \u201cdecisive\u201d strikes on Gulf energy and water infrastructure if the United States attacks Iranian power plants.<\/p>\n

The Iranian government insisted the Strait of Hormuz is not closed. It stated that \u201cnon-hostile vessels, or those belonging to or affiliated with other countries,\u201d can pass safely if they coordinate with \u201cthe competent Iranian authorities\u201d and do not participate in aggression against Iran. However, this assurance does not apply<\/a> to \u201cvessels, equipment, and any capacities belonging to the aggressing parties \u2014 namely the United States and Israel,\u201d reported NPR.<\/p>\n

U.S. intelligence officials report<\/a> that at least a dozen Iranian mines are already present in the Strait of Hormuz, contributing to maritime traffic being at a near-standstill for most commercial shipping, per CBS News.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Ultimatum and Extension<\/p>\n

The threats came hours before President Donald Trump\u2019s original 48-hour deadline \u2014 issued over the weekend \u2014 was set to expire Monday evening. Trump had vowed<\/a> to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iran\u2019s power plants if the strait remained closed to free navigation, as previously reported on by The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n

Late Monday, Trump announced<\/a> he is postponing any U.S. strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days. He cited \u201cvery good and productive conversations\u201d with Iran toward \u201ca complete and total resolution\u201d of hostilities. The extension is \u201csubject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House posted,\u00a0 \u201cPEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, it\u2019s the American way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet, Iran has denied<\/a> that direct talks with the United States are taking place. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, posted the following:<\/p>\n

Kremlin Warning on Bushehr Nuclear Plant<\/p>\n

The Kremlin warned Monday that any strike on Iran\u2019s Russian-built Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant would lead to \u201cirreparable consequences.\u201d Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told<\/a> reporters that strikes on nuclear facilities are \u201cpotentially extremely dangerous and fraught with possibly irreparable consequences.\u201d He added that dialogue is the only way to defuse the \u201ccatastrophically tense situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Global Energy Impact<\/p>\n

International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol, speaking in Australia, called the energy crisis triggered by the Iran conflict a \u201cmajor, major threat\u201d to the global economy. He warned<\/a> that \u201cno country will be immune\u201d if the situation continues, and described the impact as potentially exceeding the combined effects of the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks, per The New York Times.<\/p>\n

Oil and Gas Prices (as of late March 23, 2026)<\/p>\n

Brent crude fell sharply on news of the deadline extension, dropping more than 10% intraday to trade around $99\u2013104 per barrel (down from earlier highs near $113\u2013114). Prices remain<\/a> significantly elevated compared to pre-crisis levels. <\/p>\n

The U.S. national average gas price stood<\/a> at $3.956 per gallon according to AAA, up nearly 35% from a month ago amid the ongoing disruptions. <\/p>\n

The situation remains highly fluid. While the five-day extension offers a brief diplomatic window, Iran\u2019s mine threat, selective strait policy, and retaliation warnings are unchanged, and U.S. intelligence confirms mines are already in place. Markets reacted positively to the de-escalation signal, but analysts caution that any breakdown in talks could quickly reverse the oil price drop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran on Monday threatened to deploy naval mines across the entire Persian Gulf if any invasion or attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[102,34,5346,7395,39,14208,864,101,15046],"class_list":{"0":"post-33035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-strait-of-hormuz","8":"tag-hormuz","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-mohammad-bagher-ghalibaf","11":"tag-naval-mines","12":"tag-persian-gulf","13":"tag-power-plants","14":"tag-president-donald-trump","15":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","16":"tag-water-infrastructure"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116281249778256611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}