Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel on March 24, a day after US President Donald Trump said there had been “very good and productive” talks aimed at halting the war unleashed by the United States and Israel now raging across the Middle East.
Three senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr Trump appeared determined to reach a deal, but they thought it highly unlikely that Iran would agree to US demands.
After Mr Trump’s Truth Social comment on March 23, Iran said no talks had yet been held.
Its embassy in South Africa posted an image on X showing a child’s pink steering wheel placed on a car dashboard in front of the passenger seat, apparently mocking Mr Trump’s idea, aired to reporters, that he could control the Strait of Hormuz waterway alongside Iran’s supreme leader.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to Mr Trump less than 48 hours before their countries began the war, is expected to convene talks with security officials on Mr Trump’s bid for a deal with Iran, two senior Israeli officials said.
A Pakistani official has said direct talks may be held in Islamabad this week.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to France on March 27 to discuss the war and other global crises with the top diplomats from the Group of Seven nations, the State Department said.
In a sign of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) growing sway, a former commander of the elite force, directly accountable to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, was appointed secretary of Iran’s top security body.
Mr Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr replaced Mr Ali Larijani, who was killed by an Israeli strike last week, as head of the Supreme National Security Council. He is, however, not expected to assume Mr Larijani’s role as a key power broker.
The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb 28 after saying they failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending the Iranian nuclear programme, even though mediator Oman said significant progress had been made.
Since then, Iran has attacked countries that host US bases, struck key Gulf energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
Israel is also carrying out a separate operation against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants who have attacked it from Lebanon in support of Iran.
Despite diplomatic signals from Washington, there were no signs of the conflict abating in the Gulf or Lebanon.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said it now plans to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, about a tenth of the country. He said there can be no homes or residents in areas where there is “terror”, an apparent reference to Hezbollah.
Tit-for-tat strikes
Iranian missiles triggered air raid sirens in Israel, including Tel Aviv, where gaping holes were torn through a multi-storey apartment building.
It was not immediately clear if the damage was caused by a direct hit or debris from an interception.
Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it was searching for civilians trapped in one building in Tel Aviv and discovered civilians in a shelter in another damaged building.
Images showed rubble-strewn streets and the side of a three-storey building in Israel’s commercial hub in ruins, as first responders scrambled to assist at least four people lightly injured at four different locations.
According to several Israeli media outlets, police believe the damage was caused by a cluster munition missile equipped with three to four warheads, each carrying around 100kg of explosives.
Israel’s military said on March 24 that its fighter jets carried out a large wave of strikes in central Tehran the day before, targeting key command centres including facilities associated with the IRGC’s intelligence arm and the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.
It said more than 50 additional targets were hit overnight, including ballistic missile storage and launch sites.
Air defence systems were activated across Tehran as explosions were heard simultaneously in several areas of the capital, according to Iranian news agency Nournews.
At least eight people were killed and 28 injured in a strike on a residential area of Tabriz, a city of 1.7 million in Iran’s north-west, the provincial director for crisis management told Tasnim news agency.
Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates said it intercepted five ballistic missiles and 17 drones coming from Iran.
Mr Trump said on March 23 that he was postponing for five days a plan to attack Iran’s power plants over its closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran promised to respond to such attacks by hammering the infrastructure of US allies in the Middle East.
Iran denies negotiations
Mr Trump’s step-back sent share prices higher and oil prices sharply lower to below US$100 a barrel, a sudden reversal to a market swoon caused by his weekend threats and Iran’s vows to respond.
Those gains were in jeopardy on March 24, however, after Iran’s powerful Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – who an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter said was the interlocutor in the talks on the Iranian side – said no negotiations had taken place, calling the claims “fake news”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did, however, mention initiatives to reduce tensions. It said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had reviewed developments related to the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani counterpart and agreed to continue consultations between the two countries.
On March 24, US Treasury yields pushed higher and the dollar regained lost ground as the world continued to grapple with an energy shock triggered by Iran’s threat to shipping in the strait.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 4.2 per cent to US$104.21 a barrel, reversing some of their 10 per cent slide from March 23, while US crude CLc1 rose 4.3 per cent to US$91.93 per barrel.
“The underlying situation is still incredibly fragile or flammable,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
Mr Trump told reporters that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had been negotiating with Iran before the war, had held discussions with a top Iranian official into the evening on March 22 and would continue the next day.
“We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement,” he said on March 23.
A European official said that while there had been no direct negotiations between the two nations, Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states were relaying messages.
A Pakistani official and a second source told Reuters that direct talks on ending the war could be held in Islamabad as soon as this week.
The Pakistani official said US Vice-President J.D. Vance, as well as Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner, were expected to meet Iranian officials in Islamabad this week, following a call between Mr Trump and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir.
The White House confirmed Mr Trump’s call with General Munir. The Pakistani prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iranian media reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the impact of the war on regional and global security.
“If the parties desire, Islamabad is always willing to host talks. It has consistently advocated dialogue and diplomacy to promote peace and stability in the region,” Mr Tahir Andrabi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, told Reuters.
Mr Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said in a news conference that there are currently no Qatari mediation efforts between the warring parties, adding that Doha is focused on defending the country and addressing the impact of recent attacks.
He said the Gulf’s regional security system has been overtaken by recent developments and called for reassessment, while noting that existing defence agreements have proven effective.
REUTERS
