Iran Fires Missiles into Israel, Calls Trump Negotiations ‘Fake News’

Iran fired multiple waves of missiles at Israel, the Israeli military said, after US President Donald Trump delayed a threatened strike on Iran’s power grid, citing what he described as productive talks with Iranian officials.

Air raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel, including in Tel Aviv, where the noise of interceptions — and the blasts that followed them — were clearly heard.

In one instance, debris from an intercepted missile fell on homes in northern Israel, causing damage, though authorities reported no fatalities.

Mr Trump said he was postponing a plan to strike Iran’s energy grid for five days.

His announcement initially buoyed global markets: share prices climbed while oil slipped sharply below $100 a barrel.

A man cleans a billboard featuring Iran’s late supreme leaders next to newly elected supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei

Those market gains later looked vulnerable after Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament and — according to an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter — the Iranian interlocutor in the discussions, denied any talks had taken place.

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” he wrote on X.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was launching fresh attacks on US targets and dismissed Mr Trump’s comments as tired “psychological operations” that would not affect Tehran’s determination.

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Markets had rallied in relief after Mr Trump extended by five days a Saturday ultimatum that had demanded Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a route for roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas — within 48 hours.

But gains were threatened as investors and traders weighed the mixed signals coming from Tehran and Washington.

US Treasury yields rose and the dollar recovered earlier losses as markets grappled with the prospect of a prolonged energy shock tied to Iran’s threats against shipping through the strait.

‘Major points of agreement’

Mr Trump told reporters his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner — both of whom previously engaged with Iran before the outbreak of war — had held talks with a senior Iranian official.

“We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement,” he said.

A European official said there had been no direct, formal negotiations between Washington and Tehran, but that intermediaries in Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states were passing messages between the parties.

Donald Trump said that the US and Iran had held ‘very good and productive’ conversations

A Pakistani official and a second source told Reuters that direct talks on ending the war could take place in Islamabad as soon as this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message that he had spoken with Mr Trump and that Israel would continue operations in Lebanon and Iran.

Mr Netanyahu added that Mr Trump saw a possibility of “leveraging the mighty achievements obtained by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) and the US military, in order to realise the goals of the war in a deal — a deal that will preserve our vital interests.”

While the accounts of talks as described by Mr Trump had not been independently confirmed, Iran’s foreign ministry said there were initiatives underway to reduce tensions.

It reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had discussed developments linked to the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani counterpart and that consultations between the two nations would continue.

The Pakistani official said US Vice President JD Vance, along with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner, were expected to meet Iranian representatives in Islamabad this week following a call between Mr Trump and Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs

The White House confirmed Mr Trump’s call with General Munir.

Iranian outlets said President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had discussed the war’s implications for regional and global security.

Since the United States and Israel launched their campaign against Iran on 28 February, Tehran has effectively closed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in the war.

In response to Mr Trump’s threats to target its power plants, Iran warned it would strike the infrastructure of US allies across the Middle East — a stance that raises the prospect of prolonged and severe disruption to global energy supplies.