• US stock markets opened higher on March 30, 2026, with the S&P 500 up 0.33% or 21 points, Dow up 0.46% or 209 points, and Nasdaq up 0.2% or 41 points amid optimism over Trump-Iran negotiations.
• President Trump stated Washington is in serious discussions with a more reasonable regime to end the war, warning Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its oil infrastructure, boosting sentiment.
• Energy stocks led gains with S&P 500 Energy Index up 1.5%, Exxon Mobil climbing 3%, and Chevron adding 1.5%, while oil rose $2.44 to $102.10.
Reluctance to cheerlead alleged US ceasefire efforts reflects suspicion talk of peace could be another foil for escalationMiddle East crisis – live updatesNot long after Donald Trump said the US was engaged in “strong talks” to bring the war with Iran to an end this week, Qatar took the unusual step of distancing itself from the alleged diplomatic negotiations.Qatar was not involved in any mediation efforts, said Majed al-Ansari at a briefing on Tuesday night, before adding as a telling aside: “If they exist.” Continue reading...
• President Donald Trump stated the US is negotiating with Iran to end the three-week-old war, citing two days of 'very good and productive conversations' after Iran reportedly reached out, with talks set to continue this week.
• Trump refused to name the 'top' Iranian official involved, only saying it was not new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and claimed he would 'jointly control' the Strait of Hormuz with 'whoever the next Ayatollah is'.
• US and Israeli airstrikes continued across Iran, targeting Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, Karaj, gas facilities, and a pipeline, with Iran reporting over 1,500 civilian deaths since February 28.
Israel and Gulf states targeted and Iran hit by airstrikes as Tehran denies negotiations are taking place to end warMiddle East crisis – live updatesViolence has continued across much of the Middle East, a day after Donald Trump said the US was in “very good” talks with Iran to end the war in the region soon.Iranian barrages targeted Israel, Gulf Arab states and northern Iraq on Tuesday, while Israeli and US warplanes continued to carry out strikes across Tehran and on other targets in the Islamic Republic. Continue reading...
Iran has dismissed the US president’s claim of talks, saying there had been none since Washington began bombing the country. Plus, how sleeping 11 minutes more can cut your risk of heart attackGood morning.Donald Trump said there have been talks between the US and Iran over the past day in which the two sides had “major points of agreement” – but Tehran denied the claim, saying there had been no talks since the US began bombing Iran 24 days ago. Continue reading...
Diplomatic sources say negotiations in Islamabad may begin next week, though no formal agreement is in placeMiddle East crisis – live updatesPakistan’s military leadership has been attempting to broker negotiations between the US and Iran, after the White House confirmed that Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, had a phonecall with Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss the conflict.Diplomatic sources said the US and Iran could meet for negotiations in Islamabad as early as this week, to discuss an end to the war which began almost a month ago. Continue reading...
Iranian parliament speaker says ‘no negotiations’ held with US, as Trump postpones energy strikes for five days; European Commission chief says war must come to negotiated endTrump claims ‘productive’ talks with Iran but Tehran denies contactIsrael launches new strikes on Tehran as Trump pauses Iran energy attacksWelcome to our ongoing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and its wider repercussions in the Middle East and globally.Donald Trump has claimed the US and Iran have held talks in which the two sides had “major points of agreement”, and speculated that a deal could soon be done to end the war, a claim contradicted by Tehran.Trump said the threatened US strikes on Iranian power plants had been postponed after “very good and productive” discussions with Iran about a “complete and total resolution of our hostilities” in the Middle East. After hitting a four-year high, the price of oil fell dramatically following Trump’s comments, while stocks in Asia rallied.Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he had spoken with Trump, who saw a chance of an agreement with Iran, but added that Israel would continue its strikes against Iran and Lebanon. Trump believed there was a possibility of “leveraging the mighty achievements obtained by the Israeli and the US military, in order to realise the goals of the war in a deal – a deal that will preserve our vital interests”, the Israeli prime minister claimed in a video statement released by his office.Israel said it had launched “wide-scale” strikes on Iran on Monday morning, while Tehran continued to fire missiles at the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli military also claimed to have hit struck the main security headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as part of a “wave of strikes that was completed a short while ago in the heart of Tehran”.An Israeli strike also hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, Agence France-Presse quoted state media as saying, hours after the Israeli army issued an order for residents of the area to evacuate. An AFPTV live broadcast showed a cloud of smoke over the densely populated southern suburbs, which are considered a Hezbollah stronghold and have not been hit since Friday night. Continue reading...
Tehran denied negotiations that delayed US strikes and Trump was vague on the details, but talks signal renewed push for peace from regional powersThere have been so many abortive rounds of diplomacy between the US and Iran – the latest appearing to be led by Pakistan after Washington has burned through many other regional mediators – that it was hardly a surprise that President Trump’s claims of “very good” talks with Tehran initially provoked disbelief – especially after Iran denied that any negotiations were taking place at all.Nonetheless, standing beside Air Force One, Trump did his best to sell the sudden detente with little detail as a US ultimatum to bomb Iran’s power plants loomed unless Tehran opened up the strait of Hormuz. It was lost on few that the sudden about-face came just hours before US markets were to open for what promised to be another punishing round of trading on Monday. Continue reading...
• US stock markets rallied sharply on Monday after President Trump announced a postponement of threatened strikes on Iran's power plants, citing 'very good and productive' talks that eased Middle East escalation fears.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2% (approximately 900 points), while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both jumped around 1.9% and 2.1% respectively, with Russell 2000 futures up 3%.
• The rally was triggered by Trump's Truth Social post reversing his earlier 48-hour ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 7:44 p.m., which had previously sent markets into decline on Friday.
President delays threat against energy infrastructure after Iran’s threats of retaliation, while Tehran denies any talksMiddle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump has extended by five days his deadline to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power stations and energy infrastructure if Tehran does not allow shipping to move freely through the strait of Hormuz, claiming that the US and Iran have held “very good and productive conversations” on an end to the three-week-old war.There was no immediate official reaction from Tehran to Trump’s announcement, which was made in a post on Truth Social and appeared to avert a potentially massive escalation of the conflict, at least for now. Continue reading...
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