Iran targets Israel and Gulf Arab states even as Trump says US is in talks to end the war

The delay offered a reprieve after the U.S. and Iran traded threats over the weekend of strikes that could have cut electricity to millions in Iran and around the Gulf and knocked out desalination plants that provide many desert nations with drinking water, while raising fears of possible catastrophe if nuclear plants were hit.

But any information on the talks described by Trump remain in dispute with Iran, which denied any talks had been held.

“No negotiations have been held with the US,” Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted on X, adding that “fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon even as the U.S. considers a ceasefire.

“There’s more to come,” he said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been talking about the war this week to his counterparts in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Turkmenistan, his office said.

Iran hits Israel and Gulf neighbors, while Israel attacks Beirut

Iran fired multiple waves of missiles at Israel early Tuesday, with reports of an impact in the country's north, and an explosion was heard in central Tel Aviv, followed by billowing smoke. Officials gave no immediate information about the blast.

Israel, meantime, pounded Beirut's southern suburbs saying that it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.

A strike on a residential apartment southeast of the Lebanese capital killed at least two people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

In Kuwait, power lines were hit from air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages in several hours. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 19 Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.

Oil prices briefly fell below $100 a barrel after Trump claimed his government was in talks to end the war. But that respite was short lived, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard, back to $104 a barrel in morning trading, up more than 40% since Israel and the U.S. started the war on Feb. 28.

Iran skeptical of Trump's motives in deadline extension

Trump initially set a deadline of late Monday, Washington time, for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, but on Monday he gave Tehran five more days to comply.

Iran has allowed a small number of ships through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, but has said it will continue to target vessels linked to the U.S., Israel or its allies.

Its leaders are wary of Washington's motives, in part because Tehran was in negotiations with the U.S. before the surprise attack that started the war. Iran were also in talks last year when the U.S. and Israel attacked its nuclear facilities, starting a 12-day war.

“Trump, Netanyahu and the like are inherently liars and their nature is to create division,” Esmail Kowsari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Fars news agency.

“We must think wisely. Their nature is to sow discord so that they can make people distrust officials and believe that such actions have taken place, whereas no such action has occurred.”

Trump's extension of the deadline comes as a contingent of thousands of Marines is on the way to the area, raising speculation that the U.S. may try to seize Kharg Island, which is off of Iran's coast and vital to the country's oil network.

The U.S. bombed the island in the Persian Gulf more than a week ago, hitting its defenses but saying it had left oil infrastructure intact.

Iran has threatened if the U.S. appears to be on the verge of landing troops it could mine the Persian Gulf, which would complicate an amphibious assault and also imperil all shipping in the area.

The delay could be timed to coincide with the arrival of U.S. Marines in the region, expected Friday, wrote the New York-based think tank the Soufan Center in an analysis.

“As Trump has in the past, he could be moving military assets into place, in this case to prepare for an invasion and seizure of Kharg Island, while using negotiations as a cover until those assets are fully combat-ready.”

However, the center also noted that “Trump could be actively seeking an offramp. Whether Iran reciprocates is yet to be seen.”

Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war.

Iran’s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.

Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.