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Rescue workers and first responders work at a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran on Monday.Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press
President Donald Trump backed down on targeting Iran’s power network on Monday, saying the U.S. and Iran have held constructive talks and that he would postpone any strikes on power plants and energy infrastructure.
Conversations with Iran will continue throughout the week, Trump said in a social media post.
The United States and Iran “have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“I have 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 U.S. and Israeli war against Iran had been on the verge of massive escalation, two days after President Donald Trump vowed to destroy Iran’s power plant unless the country opens the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
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Teenagers drag a part of a missile that landed in the playground of an elementary school last night, in the Israeli settlement Peduel of the Israel-occupied West Bank.Amir Cohen/Reuters
Neither side had showed any signs of backing down as the deadline approached. Mr. Trump delivered the warning in a social media post in the early evening on Saturday, New York time, meaning the bombing of the plants could have begun overnight Monday in Iran. He had said U.S. warplanes would “hit and obliterate” the plants.
When contacted by The Globe and Mail on Sunday night, a resident in Tehran said they “were stockpiling large amounts of charcoal for cooking in case of blackouts,” adding that he thought “the real war was about to begin and could be massive.”
Iran had responded to Mr. Trump’s threat by saying attacks on its power assets would be met with strikes on U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf states. Iran had said the targets would include desalination plants, whose destruction could cripple the river-free Gulf economies. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates rely on the plants for a third to two-thirds of their municipal clean water.
The Greek shipping tycoon willing to take his chances in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran had also said that it would lay sea mines to block the entire Gulf if Iran’s coast or islands in the Gulf are attacked, according to Iranian Fars news agency. “In that case, the entire Persian Gulf will practically find a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long time. This time, along with the Strait of Hormuz, the entire Persian Gulf will be practically blocked, and the responsibility for it will lie with the threatening party.”
Oil prices plunged by more than 13 per cent after Trump said he would postpone strikes. Brent crude futures traded at about US$104.1 a barrel, or down 7.2 per cent, after sliding as much as 15 per cent to a session low of US$96 a barrel.
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Tankers sit at anchor off Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat, Oman on Sunday.Stelios Misinas/Reuters
Hormuz remained largely shut on Monday, though a few ships from friendly countries, including China, India and Pakistan, secured safe passage. In effect, Hormuz was still preventing 20 per cent of the world’s supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reach markets. Energy prices have soared in Europe and parts of Asia, less so in Canada and the U.S., both of which are net oil and gas exporters.
The International Energy Agency, which has overseen the release of strategic oil reserves from some member countries to try to blunt the rise of prices, said on Monday that the Hormuz energy shock is unprecedented. Fatih Birol, the agency’s executive director, said it is equivalent to the combined twin oil shocks of the 1970s and fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The global economy is facing a major, major threat today, and I very much hope that the issue will be resolved as soon as possible,” Mr. Birol said in an address at Australia’s National Press Club on Monday. “No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction … The single most important solution to this problem is opening the Hormuz Strait.”
The International Energy Agency is consulting with governments in Asia and Europe on the release of more stockpiled oil ‘if necessary’ due to the Iran war, Executive Director Fatih Birol said Monday.
Reuters
China is unnerved by the war on Iran. The country is the main buyer of Iranian oil and is also a big buyer of LNG from Qatar, whose gas plants have been severely damaged by Iranian drone and missile attacks.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, “If the war expands further and the situation deteriorates again, the entire region could be plunged into an uncontrollable situation. The use of force will only lead to a vicious cycle.”
Gas field strikes threaten to worsen Asian energy woes from Iran war
Israel began attacking Iranian energy sites on March 18, when it hit the South Pars gas field – the world’s largest. The field is jointly operated by Iran and Qatar, which is a U.S. ally. Mr. Trump at first claimed he knew nothing about the South Pars attack, then insisted that he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Iranian energy assets.
Mr. Trump’s threat to blow up Iran’s power plants suggested that all Iranian energy assets were targets for both the U.S. and Israel.
With reports from Reuters
