Trump says Iran has 'one more chance at peace' as Tehran denies claim of ceasefire talks

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After pulling back from a threat to "obliterate" Iran's energy sites, the President again heaped pressure on the Tehran regime to make a deal to end the war.

In a typo-ridden post on TruthSocial, the US president said the pause will last for five days but added that it depends on "the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions".

Despite not giving details on who the US is negotiating with, Trump added: "We hope they take it. Either way, America and the entire world will be much safer and will be a much safer planet."

Read more: British man jailed in Iran criticises Government for abandonment in war zone

Read more: Iran threatens to send price of oil soaring - as Trump sets deadline for reopening Strait of Hormuz to all shipping

Trump's claims of negotiations have been directly contradicted by officials from within Iran.

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, called the Trump administration's claims of talks "fake news".

His rebuttal followed reports that Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been negotiating with Mr Ghalibaf.

The conflicting reports have confused many, with President Trump going as far as to say the US would “keep bombing its little heart out” if a peace agreement isn’t reached.

Trump’s latest U-turn comes after he issued an ultimatum to Iran, warning the US would "obliterate" its power plants unless its effective blockade on the Strait of Hormuz ended within 48 hours.

That deadline was due to expire later on Monday.

Iran has been blocking the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels, since the US and Israel attacked the country on 28 February.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: "If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!"

Meanwhile, Iran warned on Monday that it will target electrical plants in Israel and across the Middle East if Trump follows through on that threat.

Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency published a list of such facilities, warning in a report citing the Iranian military that “all power plants, energy infrastructure, and information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure of the Zionist regime will be widely targeted.”

Its Defense Council also threatened to deploy mines to block the entire Persian Gulf if Iran’s coasts or islands are targeted, according to state media reports

Speaking to LBC News, former British Ambassador to Iran Sir Richard Dalton spoke about the prospect of the war ending following Trump's statement about negotiations with the Iranian regime.

Sir Richard told Nick Quraishi that he believes that Iran "does want the war to stop, but that it has very extensive demands, as does the United States," and said things "do seem to be moving."

He added: "So maybe Trump has seriously decided to cut his losses and do what the world wants, which is bring this ghastly war to an end.

"I mean, his reasons for going into the war have not stood up with a majority of the American people. The idea of an imminent threat has been comprehensively exploded, including by that very senior counterterrorism official who resigned on the matter a few days ago.

"Maybe the practical politician underneath all the bluster in President Trump realises that he's not on a route to a success.

"He'd better declare that the damage done to Iran is sufficient to have justified the war. But we mustn't get ahead of ourselves.

"That's why one of the demands from Iran is likely to be that Israel and the United States declare an end to the war and an end that is definitive, because the trust in the United States and Israel is zero or less than zero."

Earlier on Monday, US Central Command said it struck a weapons production plant in Iran.

It wrote on X: "The Qom Turbine Engine Production Plant produced gas turbine engines for attack drones and aircraft components used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"The photo dated on March 6, 2026 shows the plant before U.S. airstrikes and the second photo shows the plant three days later after a devastating attack from U.S. forces."

It comes after Iran targeted Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands before the Government gave the US permission to strike missile sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

It is not clear exactly when the two intermediate-range ballistic missiles were fired.

On Sunday, Iran denied targeting the military base on the island, with a senior official telling Al Jazeera that Tehran was not behind the reported missile attempt.

Brent crude swiftly fell 10% to stand at just over 101 dollars a barrel following the post on Trump's Truth Social platform, having earlier hit around 114 dollars a barrel.   

In financial markets, the UK's blue chip share index swung from more than 2.3% lower at one stage to stand 0.7% higher, up 67.7 points at 9986.

Oil prices have also eased back and London's FTSE 100 Index reversed early session falls after Trump announced the pause.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer headed an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday after a call on Sunday with Trump to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz shipping route after they both agreed it was “essential” to stabilising global energy markets.

Sir Keir was asked this morning whether targets in Britain could be hit. He replied that there was currently “no assessment that we’re being targeted.”

“We carry out assessments all the time in order to keep us safe, and there's no assessment that we're being targeted in that way at all.

“But of course, it's my job to ensure that British interests, British lives are always uppermost in my mind.

“What we need here is de-escalation, and that's why we had a statement from a number of countries last week about what we need to do about the Strait of Hormuz, which obviously needs careful coordination and a viable plan."