Iran Fires Missiles at Israel as Trump Postpones Strikes Over Talks

Iran launched fresh missile attacks against Israel while President Donald Trump claimed he was postponing military strikes due to ongoing negotiations with Tehran.

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Trump announced on Truth Social that the US and Iran had engaged in 'very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities' and had agreed to a five-day postponement of strikes on Iranian power plants.

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However, Iran immediately denied that any negotiations had taken place, with the country's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf calling Trump's claims 'fake news' used to manipulate financial and oil markets.

Despite Trump's announcement, Israel continued its military operations, including attacks on Tehran immediately after the US president's statement, while Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched new attacks on Israeli targets, maintaining the cycle of violence.

The military conflict has resulted in significant casualties and destruction across the region, with Iran bearing the brunt of the casualties.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 206 attacks were recorded across 15 Iranian provinces in the previous 24 hours, resulting in at least four casualties including both civilian and military personnel.

Al Jazeera

The total death toll since the US-Israeli attack on Iran that ignited the conflict more than three weeks ago has surpassed 1,500, with some rights groups reporting figures as high as 3,230 as of March 21.

Disturbingly, at least 15% of the total human casualties in Iran have been children under the age of 18, including the killing of a child on Monday.

Israel has continued its military campaign in Lebanon with strikes targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs, resulting in additional casualties as the conflict spreads across multiple fronts.

The conflict has triggered a severe global energy crisis and significant market volatility as Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that carries approximately 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

The International Energy Agency has described this as 'the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,' with oil prices soaring since late February.

Trump's announcement about potential talks initially caused stock futures to rise sharply and oil prices to tumble, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 631 points on Monday.

However, markets quickly retreated from their initial enthusiasm after it became unclear whether Iran agreed with Trump's version of events and as the Israeli Defense Forces continued strikes on Tehran.

Gasoline prices in the United States have risen for 23 consecutive days, reaching $3.96 per gallon, the highest since August 2022, representing a 34% increase in just one month – a bigger one-month gain than in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

International reactions to the crisis have been mixed, with world leaders responding to both the military escalation and the economic fallout.

The European Union has condemned Iran's actions, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stating she is 'deeply concerned' about the conflict and calling on Iran to 'immediately cease retaliatory attacks and allow free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.'

CBS News

Iran has maintained a强硬 stance throughout the crisis, warning that any attacks on its infrastructure will trigger immediate reciprocal strikes while simultaneously denying that negotiations with the United States are taking place.

“The S&P 500 gained 1”

CNN

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has described Trump's words as 'psychological operations' that are 'worn out' and having no impact on Tehran's fight.

CNN

Iran's Defense Council has escalated rhetoric by threatening to deploy mines to block the entire Persian Gulf if Iran's coasts or islands are attacked, stating that 'the entire Persian Gulf will effectively be blocked, and the responsibility for this will lie with the threatener.'