WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM/TEL AVIV, March 24 (Reuters) – Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military, a day after US President Donald Trump said there had been “very good and productive” talks aimed at stopping the conflict ravaging the Middle East.
Three senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump appeared determined to reach a deal but that they thought it was highly unlikely that Iran would agree to U.S. demands in any new round of talks.
Following Trump’s comment on Truth Social on Monday, Iran said no negotiations had been held so far. Iran’s embassy in South Africa published an image on
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke with Trump less than 48 hours before the start of the war launched by the two countries, is expected to convene a meeting of security officials to talk about Trump’s proposal for a deal with Iran, according to two senior Israeli officials.
A Pakistani official said direct talks could be held in Islamabad this week.
The US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough progress in negotiations to end Iran’s nuclear program, although mediator Oman said there had been significant progress.
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The crisis has escalated across the Middle East. Iran has attacked countries that host US bases, hit important energy infrastructure and virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz, a channel for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
AIR RAID SIRENS SOUND IN TEL AVIV
On Tuesday, Iranian missiles set off air raid sirens in Israel’s largest city, Tel Aviv, where holes were blasted into a multi-story apartment building. It was not immediately clear whether the damage was caused by a direct hit or by debris from an interception.
The Israel Fire and Rescue Service said it was searching for civilians trapped in a building in Tel Aviv and discovered civilians in a shelter in another damaged building.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets carried out a large wave of strikes in central Tehran on Monday, targeting key command centers, including facilities associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence arm and the Ministry of Intelligence. They said they also hit more than 50 other targets overnight, including ballistic missile storage and launch sites.
Air defense systems were activated in Tehran when explosions were heard simultaneously in several areas of the capital, according to Iranian news agency Nournews.
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Trump said on Monday he was postponing for five days a plan to attack Iran’s power plants if the country does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran had promised to respond to these attacks by targeting the infrastructure of US allies in the Middle East.
IRAN DENYS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE US
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Trump’s retreat caused stock prices to rise and oil prices to fall sharply below $100 per barrel.
However, those gains were threatened on Tuesday after the powerful speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf — the Iranian side’s interlocutor, according to an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter — said there had been no negotiations.
“No negotiations were held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” he wrote on X.
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Iran’s Foreign Ministry, however, mentioned initiatives to reduce tensions.
