That’s not unusual for a month-long conflict between Washington and Tehran when he’s about to launch five days before the military goes in and attack Iran’s power plants and energy facilities with missile strikes against those plants and infrastructure on today, US President Donald Trump abruptly stopped all planned military strikes on all future Iranian power plants and infrastructure for a five-day period.
The decision follows what the President said had come in between both nations’ “very good and productive” conversations aimed in an effort to ‘be a full full and complete peace’ in the Middle East.
Diplomatic opening amid increasing warfare
The President's Truth Social news is the first major diplomatic reopening since the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive kickstarted February 28, 2026. They had been grinding so fast earlier in the week that President Trump put the Strait of Hormuz back into operation: Iran must either deal fully, if it can, with Trump's ultimatum or it can’t cope and the global energy infrastructure is destroyed with it.
Such conversations that they were substantive, detailed, and engaging in these kind of dialogues and constructive discussions which will continue throughout the week, I have asked the Department of War to hold off any and all military strikes to Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, and given the tone of these in-depth and intense conversations, that you all now have had with Iran's power and energy companies, I suggest that we wait for the government to respond," Trump said. But he also said the pause is only conditional on the meeting to continue and it had to go forward.
Market reaction: Oil prices fall
In the immediate markets, and around the world. Brent crude collapsed as much as 14%, down to around $96 a barrel an unsustainable level of the price for many months and well above $110 per barrel. In response, investors who had been bracing for an energy war that could sabotage desalination plants and regional electricity grids to a greater degree welcomed the chance to breathe through the dark hole.
The stakes of the Five-Day Window
The pause brings a temporary breather but the condition remains precarious. Over the last three weeks, the “Second Iran War” has seen:
- Mysterious assassination of top Iranian leadership.
- Retaliatory Iranian drone and missile strikes against U.S. assets and allies in the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
- Severe disruptions to the global supply of sulfur, copper, and LNG.
Iranian state media hailed this as a “back down” in response to Iran’s clear calls to strike at American infrastructure in the region. But analysts think that there a pause is driven by Washington’s domestic fuel price surge and the “prelogistical crisis” affecting the U.S. defense industrial capacity.
What’s to go next?
The diplomatic talks continue to be ‘intense’ this week, I guess. The aim remains the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the discontinuation of missile exchanges that have dragged on for more than 24 days. It is likely still possible of the talks to reach an agreement for the Iranian energy grid in the last 24 hours of our time.
