Trump says Iran ‘wants to make a deal.’ Here’s what’s happening on day 24 of the war.

President Trump on Saturday threatened to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power plants within 48 hours unless the Islamic Republic agreed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route in the Persian Gulf.

But on Monday morning — roughly 12 hours before his previous deadline — Trump said he had delayed his strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for five days, claiming that the U.S. and Tehran had launched “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces would continue to strike Iran and Lebanon. “We will preserve our vital interests in every situation,” he said.

So is the war about to end — or not? Here’s everything you need to know to make sense of what’s happening in the Middle East.

What Trump is saying about a possible deal

Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump insisted on Monday morning that “we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal” and that Iran wants one “very badly.”

“If I were a betting man, I’d bet for it,” the president added. “But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything.”

When pressed for details, Trump said that his Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner had launched “very, very strong talks” on Sunday with a respected Iranian leader, whom he did not name. (He did say that it was not Iran’s new ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei.) Talks would continue on Monday, Trump said, with “major points of agreement.”

As for the terms of a possible deal, the president said that the U.S. would demand an end to Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Not even close to it.”

Trump also said it would be easy for the U.S. to retrieve Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. “If we have a deal with them, we’re going down and we’ll take it ourselves,” he vowed.

During an event in Tennessee later on Monday, Trump said that the U.S. had been negotiating with Iran for a long time. He predicted that a deal was close.

“They want peace,” Trump said. “They’ve agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon, you know, et cetera, et cetera, but we’ll see.”

What Iran is saying about a possible deal

At least publicly, Tehran appeared to reject Trump’s claim that the two countries were making progress toward ending the war, which is now in its fourth week.

On social media, the speaker of Iran’s parliament denied that direct talks had taken place. “No negotiations have been held with the US,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote. “and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”

Citing the country’s foreign ministry, the state-run IRNA newspaper published a similar claim on Monday, arguing that “remarks by the U.S. president are part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans.”

The paper added, however, that “there have been initiatives by regional countries to de-escalate tensions.”

Prior to Trump’s remarks about a deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that he’d talked by phone with his Turkish counterpart over the weekend. Turkey has previously served as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington.

Iran’s semi-official news agency, Tasnim, which is close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also insisted that no direct talks had taken place even though “messages have been sent to Tehran by some mediators.” It characterized Trump’s comments as “psychological warfare” and claimed the tactic would not help the Strait of Hormuz return to prewar conditions or bring calm to energy markets.

Various Iranian news agencies also sought to portray Trump as backing down in the face of threats to U.S. targets.

What other countries are saying about a possible deal

In a video statement on Monday, Netanyahu said had spoken to Trump, who told him that the U.S. might be able to “leverage” U.S.-Israeli military achievements to “realize the objectives of the war in an agreement” with Iran. But Netanyahu said that Israel would continue to strike Iran and Lebanon in the meantime.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had been making “constant efforts and communications with all concerning parties” in recent days to avoid “reaching to the point of no return.”

“Egypt welcomed statements made by US President Donald Trump,” the government said. “Egypt stressed the importance of seizing this opportunity and building upon it to prioritize dialogue, stop the escalation, and ultimately end the war.”

Egypt’s top diplomat, Badr Abdelatty, reportedly spoke to Witkoff, Aragchi and his Turkish counterpart on Sunday. The top Turkish and Pakistani diplomats also spoke Monday, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

An Egyptian official told the Associated Press ​​that Washington and Tehran exchanged messages over the weekend through Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan.

“This is the top priority right now,” the official said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told senior lawmakers on Monday that his government was aware of talks between the U.S. and Iran and that the priority was to achieve “a negotiated agreement which puts tight conditions on Iran, particularly in relation to nuclear weapons.”

Shortly before Trump’s announcement, the foreign minister of Oman — another country that often mediates between the U.S. and Iran — said on social media that his government is “working intensively to put in place safe passage arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz.”

How markets reacted to the news

Stocks and bonds climbed on Monday after Trump said the U.S. had started productive talks to end the war with Iran. The price of Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, briefly dropped from $114 to $96 a barrel — then rose to roughly $100 after Iranian state media denied any direct negotiations.

Oil and gas prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks because Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow, winding waterway along the country’s southern coastline that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the globe.

The strait is considered the world’s most vital shipping lane because one-fifth of our oil flows through it. But Iran has been threatening to attack ships there, and the country’s new leader has vowed to maintain the blockade. U.S. officials say Iran has also been booby-trapping the strait with mines.

As a result, almost no non-Iranian ships have been risking the journey — and the supply of Gulf oil has plummeted.

U.S. issues security alert for Americans abroad

The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide security alert on Sunday, urging Americans abroad to exercise increased caution after recent threats from Iranian officials and affiliated groups.

“Periodic airspace closures may cause travel disruptions. U.S. diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted,” the warning continued. “Groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or locations associated with the United States and/or Americans throughout the world.”

On Friday, a top Iranian military spokesman threatened to pursue U.S. and Israeli officials beyond active conflict zones. “From now on, based on the information we have about you, even parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations anywhere in the world will no longer be safe for you,” he said.

The State Department urged Americans to follow the guidance in security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate, especially in the Middle East.