Strikes hit Iran energy sites hours after Trump pauses attack plan: Report

Hours after US President Donald Trump announced a pause on attacks targeting Iran’s power infrastructure, strikes were reported at energy facilities in the cities of Isfahan and Khorramshahr, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

The report said a gas administration building and a gas pressure reduction station on Kaveh Street in northern Isfahan were hit on Tuesday, damaging parts of the facility and several nearby homes. In Khorramshahr, a projectile struck an area outside a gas pipeline station, a district official said.

This came after Trump ordered a five-day pause on planned military strikes targeting Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure, citing "very good and productive" talks with Tehran as discussions continued. However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied his claims of any talks between the two sides.

Trump’s announcement of a halt in hostilities came a day after he threatened to destroy Iranian power plants if Tehran did not "fully open" the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping within 48 hours. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards countered that Tehran would target Israel’s power facilities and infrastructure supporting US bases in the Gulf if Washington carried out strikes on its power network.

Soon after the announcement, Trump on Monday claimed that representatives from Iran reached out to start the talks because they were eager to make a deal after his threat to strike energy facilities, reported Bloomberg. He added that negotiations involving an unnamed Iranian official, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and adviser Steve Witkoff began on Saturday and continued through Sunday. He further claimed that Tehran has agreed to hand over its nuclear material and not to resume its nuclear programme again, the report added.

When asked who would control the critical Strait of Hormuz if the US and Iran made a deal, Trump said, "Maybe me and the ayatollah, whoever the ayatollah is."

All these claims, however, were denied by Iran’s foreign ministry, which said there had been no contact between Tehran and Washington. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, further added that Trump's claims were fake news "used to manipulate the financial and oil markets."

Amid these developments, Trump also spoke with Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, on Sunday, according to a report by the Financial Times. A day later, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a telephonic conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The report said Islamabad is positioning itself as a key mediator to help broker an end to the US and Israel’s war against Iran.