US president cites "very good and productive" talks with Tehran, but Iran warns it will mine all Persian Gulf communication lines if its coast or islands are attacked
US President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has ordered a five-day pause on all American military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure, citing what he described as substantive diplomatic progress with Tehran over the past 48 hours.
Writing in all capitals on his Truth Social platform, Trump said his administration had held "very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East" with Iran, and that discussions would continue throughout the week. "Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations," he said, he had "instructed the department of war to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
The announcement came on day 24 of the US-Israeli war on Iran — and on the very day a Trump-imposed deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expired.
Iran Threatens to Mine the Gulf
Hours before Trump's announcement, Iran's National Defence Council issued a stark warning: any attempt to attack the Iranian coast or islands would cause "all communication lines in the Persian Gulf to be mined." The council added that the only passage through the strait would require non-belligerent countries to coordinate directly with Iran — a statement that underscored Tehran's readiness to escalate dramatically even as backchannel talks were apparently under way.
Trump had been publicly weighing the idea of seizing Kharg Island, located roughly 24 kilometres off Iran's coast in the northern Gulf. The island's storage tanks and oil-pumping facilities handle approximately 90 percent of Iran's oil exports. Iran's warning appeared directed squarely at that prospect.
Russian Alarm Over Bushehr
The Kremlin weighed in sharply, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning that US-Israeli strikes near the Bushehr nuclear power plant were "potentially extremely dangerous" and could have "irreparable consequences." Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom had previously confirmed that a strike had hit territory immediately adjacent to the plant's meteorological service building, in close proximity to the operating reactor unit. Peskov called for the conflict to be channelled "as recently as yesterday" towards a political and diplomatic settlement, describing such a path as "the only thing that can effectively help defuse the catastrophically tense situation."
Israeli Strikes on Lebanon's Infrastructure; Friendly Fire Death Confirmed
On the Lebanese front, Israeli air strikes continued to pound civilian infrastructure in southern Lebanon overnight. The Qasimiyah Bridge — a key crossing over the Litani River linking the south to the rest of the country — was struck, with images emerging Monday morning of renewed damage to a structure that had previously survived targeting. Lebanon's National News Agency reported that at least one civilian was killed in an air strike in the Shahabiya district of Tyre, with four others moderately wounded.
Egypt condemned Israel's strikes on Lebanese bridges as "a blatant Israeli policy of collective punishment," while Lebanon's President Aoun warned that the attacks on crossings were "a prelude to a ground invasion." The Israeli army chief stated that the operation against Hezbollah "has only begun" and would be "prolonged."
In a separate development, the Israeli military confirmed that an Israeli citizen, Ofer Moskowitz, was killed not by a Hezbollah attack, as initially reported, but by Israeli artillery fire — the result of "serious operational deficiencies and errors" in the planning and execution of a fire mission in support of troops operating in southern Lebanon.
Regional and Global Fallout
The broader economic and strategic damage continued to mount. Gold fell a further 6 percent to $4,214.89 per ounce, extending a nine-session losing streak. Stocks in China and Hong Kong were heading for their worst single-day performance in nearly a year as stagflation fears spread. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called an emergency meeting to address the economic fallout, while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced new consumer aid measures in response to soaring energy costs. Iran's nationwide internet blackout entered its 24th consecutive day — surpassing 552 hours and ranking, according to monitoring group NetBlocks, among "the most severe registered in any country."