Trump Extends Iran Deadline Ten Days as U.S. Peace Plan Moves Through Pakistan

President Trump is postponing threatened strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days because of what he called negotiations, extending a deadline he first set last weekend for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, UPI and Euronews reported. Euronews said the extension came reportedly at Iran’s request. Iran denies that talks are taking place, UPI reported.

Trump gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait or face attacks on its power plants, Euronews reported, then delayed that deadline by five days on Monday, according to ABC News. The new extension, announced Thursday, pushes it further. UPI quoted Trump as saying negotiations are “going very well.”

The channel runs through Pakistan. CNBC reported that the Associated Press said intermediaries in Islamabad delivered a 15-point U.S. plan to Iran’s government, citing unnamed officials, and that The New York Times, citing two officials, reported that the United States sent the plan. Xinhua reported that special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the White House sent a 15-point plan to Tehran via Pakistan, calling it “a 15-point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal.” Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said on X that Pakistan is serving as an intermediary and that Iran is considering the plan, Xinhua reported.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier offered to facilitate talks, CNBC reported. It is unclear how widely Iranian officials have seen the plan or whether Israel would back it, according to CNBC.

Tehran’s public line is firm. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X earlier this week that “no negotiations have been held” with Washington, CNBC reported. Iran’s military spokesman, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, said on state television, “no one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever,” according to CNBC. UPI noted that Iran told the United Nations this week that it would let “non-hostile” vessels pass through the strait, and Euronews reported that Tehran offered to guarantee safe passage for such vessels but that wary shippers were not convinced.

The strait normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, according to Euronews, and Tehran has kept it virtually shut since the war began on Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel struck Iran, UPI reported. UPI said oil prices have risen steadily since Monday even though Trump backed off his plan to bomb Iran’s energy infrastructure.

The administration has also said it will not conduct diplomacy in public. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States “will not negotiate through the news media,” CNBC reported. CNBC said the administration still plans to ask Congress for a war-related supplemental funding bill that could reportedly total $200 billion.