US President Donald Trump zigzagged from claims of diplomatic progress to renewed threats of destruction on Monday as he sought to pressure Iran to make a deal to end the monthlong war.

Trump said in a Truth Social post that there had been “great progress” in talks with Tehran but warned that if they failed to produce an agreement, he would order the bombardment of Iranian power plants, oil infrastructure and potentially desalination plants. The President has repeatedly threatened such attacks in recent weeks, only to back down, as the global economy reels from the risk to energy
supplies.

Despite Trump’s claim that the US is in talks with “a new, and more reasonable, regime” in Iran, however, there has been little apparent progress in the negotiations. Iran has denied holding substantive talks with the US and has rejected the Trump administration’s conditions as unreasonable. The war has raged on, drawing in much of West Asia, sending oil and gas prices skyrocketing and fracturing Trump’s political support at home.

Trump had earlier on Monday suggested to the Financial Times that American troops could seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” Trump told the newspaper. “We have a lot of options.”

He shrugged off Iran’s ability to protect the island, a territory about one-third the size of Manhattan that is in the Persian Gulf, about 30km offshore.

“I don’t think they have any defence,” Trump said. “We could take it very easily.”

It remains unclear where the diplomatic effort facilitated by Pakistan stands. Iran’s continuing attacks on its Gulf neighbours could further complicate any talks. The United Arab Emirates — which has long billed itself as a beacon of stability in a volatile region — is signalling it wants Iran disarmed in any ceasefire.

As Trump strains to find an end to a conflict he originally mused would last four to five weeks, he has alternately narrowed his aims — arguing on Sunday that “regime change” in Iran had already been achieved — and raised the prospect of escalation, ordering thousands more US troops to West Asia, including Marines and Special Operations Forces.

On Sunday, Trump said that Iran had agreed to allow 20 more oil cargo ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran’s de facto blockade has all but closed a vital route for oil, gas and fertiliser shipments.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said Iran was “not at all happy that people in other countries are facing difficulties due to fuel and food prices”, and urged those nations to press Israel and the US to end their attacks on Iran.

Baghaei said Tehran had received a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration containing “excessive, unrealistic and irrational” demands, while denying there had been any direct talks.

On Monday, two Chinese-owned commercial vessels transited the waterway, according to MarineTraffic, a ship tracking platform. The crossings offered an initial indication that Iran could be relaxing its stranglehold over the strait, the platform said. But a short time later, Trump renewed his threats.

White House claims

Trump would be interested in calling on Arab countries to pay for the cost of the Iran war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday. The White House said talks with Iran were continuing and progressing well, adding that what Tehran says publicly differs from what it tells US officials in private.

"Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well. What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what's being communicated to us privately," Leavitt said, adding that Iran "had agreed to" some US points in private talks.

Crude price

The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, jumped to $116 a barrel on Monday before falling back in midday trading. It remains more than 50 per cent higher than before the war in Iran. The S&P 500 gained slightly after five straight weeks of declines. The index remains on track for its worst monthly performance since March 2025, when inflation and tariff worries rattled investors.

Peacekeeper killed

In southern Lebanon, which Israel has invaded as it battles the Iran-backed Hezbollah, an Indonesian United Nations peacekeeper was killed and three others were wounded by an exploding projectile.

India on Monday condemned recent attacks on UN peacekeepers deployed in Lebanon, urging all parties to ensure the safety and security of the Blue Helmets.

The Permanent Mission of India to the UN said in a statement: “We condemn the recent attacks on UN Peacekeepers deployed in UNIFIL, and pay our homage to the fallen Blue Helmets. We urge all parties to ensure the safety and security of the Peacekeepers.”

UAE escalates

Saudi Arabia intercepted five missiles targeting its oil-rich Eastern province; a fireball erupted over Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as a missile was intercepted; and in Kuwait, an Iranian attack hit a power and desalination plant, killing one worker and wounding 10 soldiers, the state-run KUNA news agency reported.

An Emirati official signalled that the UAE wants more than just a ceasefire.

“An Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponises global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape,” Noura Al Kaabi, a minister of state at the UAE’s foreign ministry, wrote in a column published by the state-linked, English-language newspaper The National.

She added: “We want a guarantee that this will never happen again.”