Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel and Gulf Arab states Tuesday, even as US President Donald Trump said Washington was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war and a news agency reported that the pause for America applied only to attacks on Tehran's energy sites.
On Monday, Trump had postponed for five days a plan to hit Iran's energy grid. Iran later denied that it had engaged in negotiations with the US.
"The stop on attacks for five days is only on their energy sites," an unnamed US official told Semafor.
"It is not on the military sites and the navy, and the ballistic missiles, and the defense industrial base. The initial initiatives of [Operation] Epic Fury will continue," he told the news agency.
The White House, the US State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report outside regular hours.
The Semafor report also added that Israel was not party to Washington's talks with Tehran.
"No negotiations have been held with the US," Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted on X, adding that "fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon.
"There's more to come," he said.
Iran targets Israel, Gulf Arab states
Iran fired three waves of missiles at Israel early Tuesday, with reports of an impact in the country's north, the Israeli Home Front Command said.
Israel, on its part, pounded Beirut's southern suburbs saying that it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.
In Kuwait, power lines were hit from air defence shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages in several hours. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said it had destroyed 19 Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.
Oil prices briefly fell below $100 a barrel after Trump claimed his government was in talks to end the war. But that respite was short lived, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard, back to $104 a barrel in morning trading, up more than 40 per cent since Israel and the US started the war on February 28.
Iran sceptical of Trump's motives
Trump's extension of the deadline comes as a contingent of thousands of Marines is on the way to the area, raising speculation that the US may try to seize Kharg Island, which is off of Iran's coast and vital to the country's oil network.
The US bombed the island in the Persian Gulf more than a week ago, hitting its defences but saying it had left oil infrastructure intact.
Iran has threatened that if the US appears to be on the verge of landing troops it could mine the Persian Gulf, which would complicate an amphibious assault and also imperil all shipping in the area.
The delay could be timed to coincide with the arrival of US Marines in the region, expected Friday, wrote the New York-based think tank the Soufan Centre in an analysis.
"As Trump has in the past, he could be moving military assets into place, in this case to prepare for an invasion and seizure of Kharg Island, while using negotiations as a cover until those assets are fully combat-ready."
However, the centre also noted that "Trump could be actively seeking an offramp. Whether Iran reciprocates is yet to be seen."
Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war.
Iran's death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. At least 13 US military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.
