Trump postpones strikes on Iran power plants, energy infrastructure
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would order the military to postpone strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days following talks with Tehran’s authorities.
He told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a phone call shortly after the post that “we are very intent on making a deal with Iran.”
However, Iranian state media, citing an unnamed “senior security official” in a post on Telegram countered Trump’s description of conversations, saying direct or indirect talks have not taken place between Washington and Tehran.
“There is been no negotiation and there is no negotiation, and with this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war conditions nor will there be peace in the energy markets,” state media reported the official as saying.
Trump said earlier in a post on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. and Iran had “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”
The U.S. president said these talks would continue through the week.
U.S. stock futures rallied and oil prices fell sharply on the news.
Speaking with Kernen, Trump said discussions with Iranian authorities had been very intense and that he remains hopeful something very substantive can be achieved.
The U.S. president also insisted on the same call that what is unfolding in Iran can be described as regime change, Kernen reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 19, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Trump’s comments come shortly after he had given Iran 48 hours to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow waterway is a key maritime corridor that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Roughly 20% of global oil and gas typically passes through it.
The U.S. president had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Tehran on Saturday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants. The deadline had been due to expire on Monday evening in Washington.
Iran’s Parliament spokesperson Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had said critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Gulf region could be “irreversibly destroyed” should Iranian power plants be attacked.
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao contributed to this report.
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