US President Donald Trump has extended the deadline he had set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz by 10 days, pushing it back to April 6.
The decision comes after he stated that talks are "going very well."
In a post on Thursday on the Truth Social platform, Trump said that, "at the request of the Iranian government," he was suspending the deadline for the destruction of the power plants for 10 days, until 8:00 p.m. (UTC) on April 6, 2026.
He added that negotiations are ongoing and, despite contrary statements from the media that he called "fake news", they are "going very well".
Earlier, the US president had called on Iranian leaders to negotiate to end the conflict that has lasted almost a month, warning of more assassinations of senior officials if this does not happen, at a time when US and Israeli operations have intensified.
The threats came after Israel said it had eliminated the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' naval forces, Alireza Tangsiri, as well as several senior officers, in an attack on the port of Bandar Abbas.
Heavy airstrikes by Israel and the US have also been reported in the Isfahan area, where important military bases and nuclear facilities are located.
For its part, Iran has denied Trump's claims that it is "begging for a deal" and has continued retaliatory attacks in parts of the Middle East. Loud explosions have been reported in Tel Aviv, Modi'in and Jerusalem, while Israeli air defenses have intervened to neutralize incoming missiles.
In other statements, Trump criticized NATO allies and described Iran as producing “great negotiators” but “poor fighters.” He also repeated the claim that the war launched last month has already been won.
"They have the opportunity to give up nuclear ambitions forever and pursue a new path," he said during a meeting at the White House, warning that, otherwise, the US will react harshly.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes, was almost completely closed by Iran in the early days of the conflict, causing a sudden increase in oil prices and volatility in global markets.