Iran sends waves of missiles into Israel, dismisses Trump’s talk of negotiations as ‘fake news’
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/TEL AVIV, March 24 (Reuters) – Iran launched a wave of missiles against Israel after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed his threat to bomb the Islamic Republic’s power grid because of productive talks with Iranian officials, the Israeli military said.
The missiles triggered air raid sirens in parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv, where explosions from the intercepts were heard. In one attack, houses in northern Israel were damaged by falling debris following the intervention. No deaths were reported.
On Monday, Trump held “very good and productive” talks on the Truth Social platform between the “USA” and Iran regarding “a complete and total resolution of the hostilities in the Middle East.”
As a result, he said, he delayed his plan to strike Iran’s energy grid by five days. His announcement caused stock prices to rise and oil prices to fall below $100 per barrel; The market swoon over the weekend threats and Iran’s promise to respond was suddenly reversed. [O/R]
But those gains were in jeopardy on Tuesday after Iran’s powerful parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who said an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter said were the interlocutor in the talks on the Iranian side, said there had been no negotiations.
“There have been no negotiations with the United States, and fake news is being used to manipulate financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the United States and Israel are stuck,” he wrote on X.
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had launched new attacks on the United States. He described Trump’s remarks as “worn out” and “psychological operations” that had no impact on Tehran’s struggle.
Global markets rebounded comfortably Monday night after Trump added five days to his Saturday ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, within 48 hours.
But those gains were under threat on Tuesday as markets weighed in on conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington. As the world continues to grapple with the energy shock triggered by Iran’s threat to shipping in the Bosphorus, US Treasury bond yields rose and the dollar gained value again.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 4.2% to $104.21 per barrel, reversing some of the 10% decline seen since Monday. US crude oil CLc1 increased by 4.3% to $91.93 per barrel.
“The underlying situation is still incredibly fragile or flammable,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
“IMPORTANT POINTS OF THE AGREEMENT”
Trump told reporters that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had been negotiating with Iran before the war, were in talks with a senior Iranian official until Sunday evening and that the talks would continue on Monday.
“We’ve had very, very strong discussions. We’ll see where they go. We have significant points of agreement on almost all the points of agreement,” he said on Monday.
A European official said Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf countries were conveying messages, although there were no direct negotiations between the two countries.
A Pakistani official and a second source told Reuters that direct talks on ending the war could be held in Islamabad this week.
In his video statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he met with Trump on Monday and that Israel will continue its attacks against Lebanon and Iran.
But Netanyahu said Trump “believes there is a possibility of taking advantage of the great successes achieved by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and the US military to achieve the goals of the war with an agreement – an agreement that will protect our vital interests.”
Although there is no confirmation yet that the talks took place as Trump described, Iran’s foreign ministry has announced initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions.
It was stated that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reviewed the developments regarding the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani counterpart and an agreement was reached to continue the consultations between the two countries.
The Pakistani official said that Witkoff and Kushner, as well as US Vice President JD Vance, are expected to meet with Iranian officials in Islamabad this week, following the meeting between Trump and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir.
The White House confirmed Trump’s meeting with Munir. Pakistan’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iranian media reported that Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the impact of the war on regional and global security.
Iran has effectively closed the key Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched a war against the country on February 28. More than 2,000 people were killed in the war.
Iran had responded to Trump’s threat to strike power plants by saying it would hit the infrastructure of US allies in the Middle East and raise the possibility that the extreme disruption to global energy supplies would last longer than previously expected.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Ariba Shahid in Karachi and Saad Sayeed in Bangkok; Additional reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by David Brunnstrom and Steve Coates; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Michael Perry)
