Iran fires at Israel, denies talks with US
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel and Gulf Arab states on Tuesday, even as US President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war.
Trump also delayed a deadline for Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz for shipping or see its power stations targeted by airstrikes, briefly driving down oil prices and boosting stocks.
The delay offered a reprieve after the United States and Iran traded threats over the weekend of strikes that could have cut electricity to millions in Iran and around the Gulf and knocked out desalination plants that provide many desert nations with drinking water, while raising fears of possible catastrophe if nuclear plants were hit.
But any information on the talks described by Trump remains in dispute with Iran, which denied any talks had been held.
‘More to come’
“No negotiations have been held with the US,” Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted on X, adding that “fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon even as the United States considers a ceasefire.
“There’s more to come,” he said.
Iran fired three waves of missiles at Israel early Tuesday, with reports of an impact in the country’s north, the Israeli Home Front Command said.
Israel, meantime, pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs saying that it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.
5 more days to comply
In Kuwait, power lines were hit from air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages in several hours. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 19 Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.
Oil prices briefly fell below $100 a barrel after Trump claimed his government was in talks to end the war. But that respite was short-lived, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard, back to $104 a barrel in morning trading, up more than 40 percent since Israel and the United States started the war on Feb. 28.
Trump initially set a deadline of late Monday, Washington time, for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, but on Monday he gave Tehran five more days to comply.
Iran has allowed a small number of ships through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, but has said it will continue to target vessels linked to the United States, Israel or its allies.
Its leaders are wary of Washington’s motives, in part because Tehran was in negotiations with the United States before the surprise attack that started the war. Iran had also been in talks last year when the US and Israel attacked its nuclear facilities, starting a 12-day war.
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