US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he was postponing his deadline for Iran to agree to an American proposal to end the war, setting a new date of April 6.

“As per Iranian government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

On Saturday, Trump had announced that he would start blowing up Iran’s energy sites in 48 hours if it didn’t allow safe passage to tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. But before that deadline arrived, Trump announced that he would be delaying it by five days, to Friday, claiming that Iran had reached out and expressed interest in an agreement.

“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the fake news media, and others. They are going very well,” Trump wrote in his latest social media post.

Trump is reported to be considering ordering a ground operation in Iran to pressure Tehran into acquiescing to American terms to end the nearly monthlong war.

Earlier Thursday, in remarks made at a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump broadcast ambiguity, saying he didn’t know if a deal was possible. He also declined at the time to say whether the US was insisting that Iran dispose of its enriched uranium.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that,” Trump said of a deal in his opening remarks at the cabinet meeting. “They’re lousy fighters, but they’re great negotiators.”

Trump still insisted that he was not the one desperate for an agreement: “They are begging to make a deal. Not me,” he said. On Wednesday, he said the Islamic Republic wants a deal “so badly.”

Iran, however, continued to throw cold water on the prospects of an agreement, calling a 15-point US proposal to end the fighting “one-sided and unfair.” That offer included demands to dismantle the country’s nuclear program and facilities, end support for regional proxies and strict limits on its missile program.

An Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that the proposal fell short of Iran’s minimum requirements.

It’s also unclear how much leverage Israel would have over the timing and content of a ceasefire, with Israeli officials reportedly expecting to be notified in advance of an agreement but with little influence over an agreement.

Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets continued on Wednesday and Thursday, including attacks on ballistic missile sites. Iran fired seven missile salvos at Israel.

Official to ToI: Trump considering ground invasion

On Thursday, an official from one of the countries mediating between the US and Iran told The Times of Israel that Trump appeared to be leaning toward ordering a US ground operation against Iran, with Washington convinced Tehran will buckle under the military pressure.

The official, who spoke prior to Trump’s social media post, said the US privately recognizes that Iran is not likely to agree to the concessions presented in the 15-point plan.

Thousands of US Marines are slated to arrive in the region soon, and the source, who is intimately familiar with the mediation efforts, said the troops’ purpose would be to capture Tehran’s Kharg Island — which handles about 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports — on Trump’s orders.

A second official from a mediating country warned, however, that while the US may be able to capture the island, holding onto it will require many more soldiers and an extended period of fighting — far beyond the four-to-six week window that Washington has told the public that the war would last.

Both officials from mediating countries said that the Islamic Republic is not likely to capitulate, regardless of whether a ground operation moves ahead. They insisted that Iran will not agree to terms now that it wasn’t willing to accept before the US launched the war.

Trump: ‘I don’t care’ if deal happens

Trump also signaled at the cabinet meeting that the US was not begging for a deal, and said it would continue to fight.

“I’m the opposite of desperate to make a deal. I don’t care! We have other targets we want to hit before we leave,” he said.

“We estimated [at the beginning of the war] it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission. Twenty-six days in, we’re extremely, extremely ahead of schedule,” Trump claimed.

“If they make the right deal, then the Strait [of Hormuz] will open up,” he added.

He also said the US didn’t need the Strait of Hormuz, which was at the center of his threatening rhetoric last week.

“We don’t need the Hormuz Strait. We have so much oil. We have twice the amount of oil as Saudi Arabia or Russia,” he said.

Asked whether it would be possible to end the war if Iran still held on to its stockpiles of enriched uranium, Trump responded, “You’re going to have to see… we’re roaming free… I can’t talk to you about it.”

He said the war was “a great favor for the world.” He claimed that Tehran knew it had been defeated.

“The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they have been decisively defeated. They’re saying to people, this is a disaster. They know. That’s why they’re talking to us,” he said. At another point, he said Iran wants to make a deal because “they have been just beat to shit.”

Trump repeated his contention that the regime was on track to get nuclear weapons within two to four weeks when the US resorted to bombing its nuclear sites last June, near the end of a 12-day air war between Israel and Iran.

If they had attained the bomb, he said, they would have used it on Israel and other countries.

“They want to take over the Middle East, not just Israel,” he said of the regime. “Certainly, Israel would have been the first on their list… They would have used a nuclear weapon on Israel, and they would have used it on the other neighbors. And then they would have come after us.

“You cannot give lunatics a nuclear weapon,” he added. He said Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the current war’s first day, was a “maniac” intent on “blowing up the world, blowing up the Middle East, and blowing up our country.”

Signs of optimism toward an agreement

Trump, as well as chief US negotiator Steve Witkoff, offered signs at the cabinet meeting that a deal could be getting closer. Confirming The Times of Israel’s reporting, Trump said at the meeting that Iran was allowing the safe passage of a number of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a “present” that convinced him Tehran was serious about potentially reaching a deal.

“They said, ‘To show you the fact that we’re real and solid, we’re going to let you have eight big boats of oil,'” Trump recalled. “And then I watched the news… and they said there are eight boats that are going right up the middle of the Hormuz Strait,” he continued, claiming the tankers were Pakistani-flagged.

While several tankers did indeed manage to cross through the channel earlier this week, there has been no public reporting about eight tankers specifically, and none of the tankers that were reported to have successfully crossed since Sunday were Pakistani-flagged.

Asked if he wants to control Iranian oil, Trump said, “It’s an option, but I wouldn’t talk about it.”

Witkoff, meanwhile, said there were “strong signs” the US will be able to convince Iran that it has no better option than to accept Washington’s proposal.

“If we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point, with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction, [and] we have strong signs that this is a possibility,” he said, “If a deal happens, it will be great for the country of Iran, for the entire region and the world at large.”

He added, addressing Trump, that Tehran is “looking for an off-ramp following your powerful threat on Saturday” to bomb Iranian energy sites.

He said he had gotten “multiple reach-outs from the region and others who want to play a role in ending this conflict peacefully.”

Israel expects limited influence on Trump’s decision

Regarding the US-Iran talks, Israel expects to be notified in advance as to whether a ceasefire will be announced, but believes its ability to influence the decision is currently limited, Channel 12 reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Israeli officials assess that a potential ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran could be reached at any moment. However, gaps remain, and escalation remains a viable scenario.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly spoke earlier in the day with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reiterating Israel’s red lines on any emerging deal.

Meanwhile, Channel 12 reported that a senior security official said in a closed-door meeting that Iran can sustain its current rate of missile fire at Israel for weeks, citing sufficient launchers and operational cells to pace and prolong attacks.

IDF continues strikes on Iran and its leaders

The Israeli Air Force said on Thursday that it struck dozens of Iranian military sites in Iran over the past day, including ballistic missile launch and storage sites.

In Kermanshah and Dezful, the military said IAF aircraft dropped some 70 bombs on sites used by Iran to store and launch ballistic missiles, along with air defense systems.

The IDF said that Iranian soldiers operating at the sites were killed in the strikes.

ביממה האחרונה: חיל האוויר השלים כ-20 מטסי תקיפות לעבר אתרי שיגור של משטר הטרור האיראני לאורך היממה האחרונה, חיל האוויר בהכוונת אמ"ן תקף עשרות תשתיות של משטר הטרור האיראני בכ-20 מטסי תקיפות במערב איראן. במסגרת המטסים, צה"ל תקף בין היתר בכרמאנשאה ודזפול, והטיל כ-70 חימושים לעבר… pic.twitter.com/hu98uZIY0a — צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 26, 2026

ביממה האחרונה: חיל האוויר השלים כ-20 מטסי תקיפות לעבר אתרי שיגור של משטר הטרור האיראני

לאורך היממה האחרונה, חיל האוויר בהכוונת אמ"ן תקף עשרות תשתיות של משטר הטרור האיראני בכ-20 מטסי תקיפות במערב איראן.

במסגרת המטסים, צה"ל תקף בין היתר בכרמאנשאה ודזפול, והטיל כ-70 חימושים לעבר… pic.twitter.com/hu98uZIY0a

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 26, 2026

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin also vowed that the military will continue to hunt down Iranian leaders, following the killing of IRGC Navy chief Alireza Tangsiri in Bandar Abbas overnight Wednesday-Thursday.

“The eliminations will not stop; we will continue to pursue anyone who threatens Israel,” he said.

Defrin said the military has hit more than 1,000 targets of Iran’s weapon production industries so far amid the war.

“We are talking about the factories that produce the missiles, the drones and defense systems,” he said at a press conference.

Defrin said the IDF is striking “all assets of the weapons [industries]. We will also reach the sub-contractors.”

“In the coming days, we will deepen the achievement and lessen this threat for a long time,” he added.

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1 ExclusiveIran ‘present’ touted by Trump was passage of several fuel tankers through Hormuz

2 Trump, fearing slaughter, said to have rejected Netanyahu proposal to jointly call for Iranian uprising

3 9 injured as Iran fires 7 missile salvos at Israel within hours, many with cluster warheads

4 Trump: Iran wants deal ‘so badly’; White House says campaign ‘very close’ to meeting goals

5 Iran officials reply coldly to truce offer, as US warns of harsher strikes if rejected

6 Israel says IRGC Navy’s commander, other chiefs killed; Qalibaf said removed from hit list

7 11 Palestinian families evicted after court found Jews owned their East Jerusalem homes before 1948

8 Netanyahu spokesman quits, admits to racist remarks on Mizrahi Jews, attacks on PM

2026 US-Israel war with Iran

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