United States President Donald Trump announced that, at the request of the Iranian regime, the US would be "pausing the period of energy plant destruction" until April 6, claiming that talks with the regime are ongoing in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.
The pause will last for ten days and end at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the 6th, according to Trump.
He added that the talks are "going very well," but did not elaborate on what the goal of the pause is or what will happen at the end of the ten days.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump claimed that the US and Israel’s war against Iran was “way ahead of schedule” and stated that the regime was continuing talks with the US during a cabinet meeting.
The president then provided conflicting reports on the progress of a deal with the Islamic Republic. Trump said that the Iranians are great negotiators, but that he's not sure he's willing to make a deal with them to end the war.
However, he then said the regime was “begging to make a deal” with the US and that it remains to be seen if they would continue negotiations.
“They now have a chance to make a deal, but that’s up to them,” Trump said.
“We’ll see if we can make the right deal. We’ll see if they want to do it,” he said. “In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away unimpeded."
Trump then referred to the war in Iran as a "little detour" and asserted that the US would end the war soon.
US Vice President JD Vance added that “the Iranian conventional military was effectively destroyed."
"They don’t have a navy, they don’t have the ability to hit us like they could have even a few weeks ago,” Vance stated, adding that the US will "use every tool at [its] disposal to ensure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon."
During the meeting, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed that over the course of Operation Epic Fury, over 10,000 Iranian targets have been destroyed, over 150 Iranian naval vessels were sunk, and that Iran's defense industrial base is "in shambles."
Rubio, Witkoff emphasize risk of allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons
US Sceretary of State Marco Rubio further emphasized the danger of allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons, calling it an "unacceptable risk for the world."
Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East, also spoke at the meeting, detailing negotiations between the US and Iran leading up to the start of Operation Epic Fury on February 28, during which Witkoff asserted that the US negotiators "exhausted all efforts on behalf of a peaceful resolution."
According to Witkoff, throughout talks with Iranian negotiators, it became clear that Iran "would not give up diplomatically what [the US] could not win militarily."
He stated that Iran possessed "enough 60% enriched material, 460 kg, to make 11 atomic bombs," that the Iranian regime insisted that they "have the inalienable right to enrich," and that no deal could be made that fulfilled US objectives for the negotiations.
Despite Witkoff's claims about enriched uranium, The Jerusalem Post previously reported that the Islamic Republic likely would not have had a nuclear weapon for at least two years.
Witkoff additionally touched upon a 15-point proposal for ending the ongoing war that the US sent to Iran via Pakistan. He described it as an "action list that forms the framework for a peace deal," claiming that it has "resulted in strong positive messaging and talks."
"We will see where things lead and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction," Witkoff stated, asserting that Iran is currently "looking for an off-ramp."
"We have strong signs that this is a possibility and that if a deal happens, it will be great for the country of Iran, for the entire region, and the world at large."
Iranian official denies regime ready to negotiate
Despite Trump's claim that Iran is eager to make a deal, earlier on Thursday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that no plans for talks between the United States and Iran “appear realistic at this stage" and that no arrangement for negotiations has been established yet.
The official additionally stated that Iran had deemed the US's 15-point proposal “one-sided and unfair,” serving only US and Israeli interests, and lacking “the minimum requirements for success.”