US President Donald Trump surprised the world when he recently posted on Truth Social that the US and Iran have had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East”.
He went on to declare in his 23 March post that “based” on these discussions, he had ordered US defence forces to “postpone” all military strikes on Iran’s “power plants and energy infrastructure for a period of five days". This pause will be over on 28 March.
With Trump’s post, global oil prices went down and stock markets went up. They had gone in opposite directions following his earlier warning that the US would destroy Iran’s power production if it did not immediately open the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran did not do so. A few hours after Trump’s post, Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, posted on X, “Messages from the US, sent via friendly countries to seek talks and end the war were sent and answered in line with Iran’s principles”.
In his media responses, Trump had maintained “I didn't call, they called. They wanted to make a deal”.
It is commonly seen during wars that no belligerent wants to acknowledge that it took the initiative to begin talks unless it has been defeated. What generally happens is that intermediaries tend to convey to belligerents that all parties in the conflict wish to seek a way out. In all likelihood that has occurred in this war too.