The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied that there have been any discussions with the United States regarding the war. Iranian officials rejected Donald Trump’s claims that negotiations are taking place. The Islamic Republic has instead affirmed that there will be no talks until its aims in the war are achieved.
This comes as the American president, in a Truth Social post, claimed that he had held productive talks with Iran and that these had led him to postpone plans to target Iran’s power and energy infrastructure. Trump had previously threatened that within 48 hours from Saturday, 21 March, if ease of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz was not restored, the United States would attack Iran’s power plants.
Tehran, in turn, pledged to immediately implement punitive measures aimed at destroying America’s economic interests in West Asia. Setting out what it described as a new war equation, the spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, said:
- The Strait of Hormuz will be fully closed and will not reopen until Iran’s damaged power plants are restored.
- All power plants, energy infrastructure, and information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure of the Zionist regime will come under fire.
- All similar companies in the region with US shareholders will be targeted.
- Power plants in regional countries hosting US bases will become legitimate targets.
Washington is attempting to pressure Iran to end its control over traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The US war on Iran has resulted in rising oil prices. In response to Trump’s retreat, the Islamic Republic said it remained steadfast in its handling of the Strait of Hormuz, which it says is closed to the enemy and its allies.
Meanwhile, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has conceded that the hubris of so-called “total victory” has been a failure for the occupation. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 13, Barak said that after two and a half years, they have not been able to eliminate Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Iranian government.
He further noted that the Israeli state will neither be able to open the Strait of Hormuz nor eliminate Iran’s military capabilities. On the United States, Barak added that Washington has not won a war in the last 60 years, and called on the leaders of Israel not to mislead the public.
