Why Did Trump Announce Talks With Iran? US Allies Warned War Risked 'Disaster'

Last Updated:March 24, 2026, 03:37 IST

Trump said he was giving Iran a five-day reprieve from his threatened action on energy infrastructure after a warning from US allies.

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced “very productive" talks with Iran, signalling a possible end to the ongoing war after US allies and Gulf countries privately warned him that following through with his threat to attack Tehran’s power plants risked a disaster, according to a report.

Trump said he was giving Iran a five-day reprieve from his threatened action on energy infrastructure. “All I’m saying is, we are ⁠in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal," he told reporters before departing Florida.

However, Trump’s decision came after some allies cautioned that the war was quickly becoming a disaster, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Regional partners told the US that permanent damage to Iranian infrastructure would almost inevitably result in a failed state after the conflict ended, as per the report.

Follow Live Updates Of US-Iran War

This also came alongside Trump’s attempt to calm markets that have been rattled by his threats and the ongoing disruptions to oil and gas supplies due to the conflict. His decision was designed in part to address those concerns, according to the people, and immediately led to a slump in oil prices.

“Trump needed some way to climb down from a threat that would surely have started a new round of escalation, this time crossing a new threshold by targeting civilian energy infrastructure, which would likely constitute a war crime," said Dana Stroul, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the Middle East.

What Did Trump Say?

Earlier today, Trump said representatives from Iran reached out to start the talks because they were eager to make a deal after his threat to strike energy facilities. “We’ve been negotiating for a long time, and this time, they mean business, and it’s only because of the great job that our military did," Trump said.

READ MORE: Netanyahu Says Israeli Attacks On Iran To Continue As Trump Mulls Ceasefire

He said his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner held talks with a “respected" Iranian leader. According to the US president, Tehran agreed to turn over nuclear material in the country and not resume their nuclear programme.

Other nations also acknowledged conversations with the US after he issued his threat. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government was aware of the talks with Iran. Reports suggested that Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states were relaying messages between Iran and the US and direct talks could be held in Islamabad as soon as this week.

However, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was reportedly leading negotiations on behalf of Tehran, firmly rejected Trump’s claim that the United States and Iran were engaged in “productive talks" to end the Middle East conflict and accused the US of manipulating markets to lower soaring oil prices.

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," Ghalibaf wrote on X. He added that the Iranian people demand “complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors" and that all officials remain firmly behind their “supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved".

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