The clock that was ticking toward a dramatic new escalation in the Iran war may now be counting down to a deal that would end it.
That's the latest stunning turn of events delivered by President Donald Trump's social media account.
Trump announced Monday that he was postponing his threatened military strikes against Iranian power plants for at least five days, hours ahead of his deadline for Tehran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
He said the U.S. and Iran were in "productive" talks toward a "complete and total" resolution of the war, though Tehran denied any direct talks.
Now in its fourth week, the conflict has consumed the Middle East, pushed up the prices of energy and food, and threatened the global economy with a far-reaching crisis.
Trump's reversal delays what many feared would mark a significant new escalation for civilians across the region.
Iran's Foreign Ministry appeared to counter Trump’s version of events, though, saying in a statement published by semi-official news agency Mehr News that there was “no dialogue between Tehran and Washington.”
It said Trump’s delay was “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans," while acknowledging "there are initiatives from regional countries to reduce tensions." Iranian state media said the president had "backed down" following Iran's vow of swift retaliation for any attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Though markets responded positively to Trump's turnaround, it was swiftly followed by a new round of Israeli strikes in the heart of Tehran.
The war it launched alongside the U.S. on Feb. 28 continued, as did Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
That has left the world facing a worse energy crisis than the oil shocks of the 1970s and the impact of the war in Ukraine combined, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned early Monday.
Trump had on Saturday given Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait, a waterway through which around 20% of the world's oil passes, threatening in a post on Truth Social to bomb Tehran's power plants if the demand was not met.
But Iranian officials showed no sign of relenting, warning the country could strike electricity targets across the Gulf and even hit plants that supply the region with drinking water. As the U.S. sped the deployment of marines and amphibious assault ships to the Middle East, Tehran also threatened to close and mine the Persian Gulf if it faced a coastal invasion.
The Islamic Republic has so far shown no sign of capitulating to the American-Israeli assault, despite the killing of its supreme leader and other senior officials.
Speaking with reporters on the tarmac in West Palm Beach, Trump said Iran had called the U.S. in a bid to “make a deal” and resolve the war diplomatically. The president said 15 points had been discussed, including Iran never being able to attain a nuclear weapon.
“There’s got to be a good deal, and it’s got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons,” he said. “They’re not going to have nuclear weapons anymore.”
He said that Israel would be “very happy” with such a deal. Trump declined to say who the U.S. was talking to in Iran, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were leading the talks.
It follows a weekend of ratcheting rhetoric between the two sides.
Asked on NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday whether the U.S. was scaling back the war against Iran or escalating, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said those two things were "not mutually exclusive."
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“Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate,” he said.
Asked whether Washington could use troops to secure the Strait of Hormuz or for any other reason, he said Trump would not "give away what we're going to do."
He also warned that “all options” were on the table to secure Kharg Island — a critical hub for Iran’s oil production, which was bombed by the U.S. last week — including the deployment of troops.
In the meantime, with Iranian attacks on shipping in the area effectively closing the strait, oil prices have rocketed globally, with retail gas prices rising 93 cents per gallon and the price of U.S. crude oil going up more than 70% since the start of the year.
It remains to be seen how the conflict consuming the region will now play out in the days ahead, including what Israel's response will be to Trump's sudden shift toward a deal.
“This could be, you know, now an off-ramp to completely de-escalate and end this conflict, at least between the United States and Iran,” Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and the author of “Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy,” told NBC News in a phone interview.
Or “it could be a trap,” said Harrison, who is currently in the region, with Trump possibly looking to buy time to prepare for expanded U.S. operations, as Iran’s foreign ministry suggested.
Ultimately, Harrison said it was too soon to know exactly what might be behind the dramatic turn of events, with details on who was involved in talks and what, if anything, has been agreed still unclear.
