Donald Trump's approach to Iran has been thrown into confusion after he paused US bombing campaigns, claiming constructive talks had taken place, only for Tehran to reject the assertions as 'fake news'. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US and Iran had engaged in 'very good and productive conversations' over the past two days, with military strikes on Iranian power plants postponed for five days. The announcement boosted financial markets and saw oil prices tumble.
However, Iran's foreign ministry denied any talks had occurred, accusing Trump of trying to manipulate energy prices and buy time for further military action. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, added: 'No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.' Asked about the denial, Trump said: 'They're going to have to get themselves better public relations people. We've had very strong talks.'
The conflict escalated after US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 28 February, leading to near constant tit-for-tat strikes. Iran laid siege to the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil prices to surge. While a spokesperson for Sir Keir Starmer initially welcomed the talks, the prime minister later said the UK must plan for hostilities to continue for some time, chairing an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the impact on the cost of living, including potential petrol rationing and food shortages.
Trump suggested the US could share 'joint leadership' of the Strait of Hormuz with an unnamed Iranian leader, hinting at a 'very serious form of regime change'. He said: 'There's automatically a regime change, but we're dealing with some people that I find to be very reasonable.' Israel and the US have previously demanded regime change and the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities, goals now seen as out of reach.
