US President Donald Trump said he was pausing strikes on Iran’s energy sector for 10 more days, to April 6, so peace negotiations can take place. Trump’s previous deadline was Friday.
Iran allowed several Pakistan-flagged oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a gesture Trump called a “present” to the U.S. that shows Iran’s leaders are serious about negotiating. Iran is “begging” to make a deal to end the war, Trump said during his cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, Pakistan said the U.S. and Iran were engaged in indirect talks through messages it was relaying, and that Tehran was considering Washington’s proposals.
A drone view shows damage in a residential neighborhood, following a night of Iranian missile strikes which injured dozens of Israelis, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Arad, southern Israel March 26, 2026. REUTERS/ Ilan Rosenberg
Israel said earlier that it killed the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy, who was “directly responsible” for mining and blocking the strait, in overnight strikes. The head of U.S. Central Command called on every Iranian in the navy to abandon their posts or risk death.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Iran war would lead to 50 years of safety after “short-term volatility.”
The OECD now expects U.S. inflation to rise to 4.2% this year—well above its earlier 3% estimate—driven by a surge in global energy prices tied to the Iran war.
The head of NATO said the military alliance, which Trump criticized earlier in the day, was stronger than ever.
The U.S. has begun to mass ground troops near Iran. Here’s what we know about the deployments.
Israel Continues Strikes on Iranian Weapons Facilities
Israel’s air force continued efforts to strike infrastructure across Tehran and central Iran that the regime uses to produce weapons, the Israeli military said Thursday.
People walk amidst the rubble from the damaged Isfahan Optics Industries building and the surrounding area in Isfahan, Iran, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released on March 24, 2026. Social media/via REUTERS. Verification lines: Reuters was able to verify the location as Isfahan by the buildings, overpass, signs, road guardrails, walls and road layout seen in the videos which matched file and satellite imagery of the area. Coordinates of the damaged Isfahan Optics Industries building: 32.70324339647984, 51.67593590009293. The date when the videos were filmed was not verified, but no older version of the video was found posted online before March 24. The Iranian Red Crescent said the area was attacked on March 24.
More than 60 fighter jets and 150 munitions were used to target several facilities, Israel’s military said, including:
One that makes the defense systems that guard Iran’s ballistic missile array; a factory for casting and filling warheads with explosive materials; a site for mixing and casting ballistic missile engines, and A site that manufactures components for solid-fuel ballistic missiles.
Israel said that overnight it struck weapons and defense production sites in Isfahan and central Iran used by Iran, Hezbollah and Houthi militias. On Wednesday, Israel struck additional sites at the main facility for missile and defense system production in Parchin, the military said.
Separately, Israel conducted 20 flyovers in Kermanshah and Dezful in western Iran to strike weapons storage and launching sites for ballistic missiles and aerial defense systems, according to the military.
