(JNS) US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a five-day pause on military strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure following what he said were “very good and productive” talks with Tehran.

Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform said he had instructed the Department of Defense to postpone “any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure” while negotiations continue this week, adding that the freeze is contingent on “the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”

The recent talks were “in depth, detailed, and constructive,” he wrote, suggesting they could lead to a “complete and total resolution” of the conflict with the Islamic regime.

Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen on Monday that he hoped that within the coming five days, “something very substantive” could be achieved in talks toward an end in hostilities.

“Discussions have been very good over the last 48 hours, very intense discussions,” the president said. Trump insisted that “this is regime change,” as many Iranian representatives have been eliminated during the war.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We have had very strong talks with Iran. If they carry through with them, it will end the conflict. They want to make a deal, we want to make a deal. pic.twitter.com/xRkJtDAyPa

— Department of State (@StateDept) March 23, 2026

However, an Iranian source told the country’s Fars News, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that there were no talks between Tehran and Washington.

“There has been no direct or indirect contact with Trump,” the source claimed, adding that Trump “backed down” after being warned Iran would target “all power plants in West Asia.”

Earlier on Monday, the IRGC warned in a statement reported by Iranian state media that if the country’s electricity sector is attacked, it will target Israel’s power plants as well as those of other countries in the region.

“We are determined to ⁠respond to any threat at the same level as it creates in terms ⁠of deterrence. … If you hit electricity, we hit electricity,” Reuters cited the IRGC as saying.

Referring to Trump’s decision to pause strikes on Iranian energy sites, Religious Zionism Party Knesset member Moshe Solomon told JNS that such decisions rest with the US president.

“We can say with certainty that any attempt to gain economic capacity to rearm and advance nuclear ambitions is unacceptable. As such, we will continue to act against the current Iranian leadership,” Solomon said.

“We will do everything necessary to ensure that Iran, under this leadership, ceases to pose a threat to the State of Israel. We fight shoulder to shoulder with the United States, and while I cannot speak to the president’s considerations, I hope political decisions will be made that do not harm or endanger Israel’s security,” he added.

Solomon said the war was born from a clear understanding that Iran poses an existential and strategic threat not only to Israel but to the West.

“We are convinced that the United States shares our view, and that toppling the regime and degrading Iran’s military capabilities serve our mutual interests. Once we achieve our three stated objectives—neutralizing the ballistic missile threat, dismantling the nuclear threat and bringing about the fall of the regime—both the United States and Israel will seek to end the war. I do not believe this will happen separately,” he said.

Trump late on Saturday evening US Eastern time issued an ultimatum to Tehran, saying that if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within 48 hours, Iran’s energy infrastructure would be destroyed.

According to The New York Times, the Islamic Republic vowed to keep the Strait “completely closed” if its vital energy sources were stuck.

Power outages were reported by residents in large parts in Tehran on Monday morning after a wave of air raids struck targets across the city the previous night, the Times reported.

The Israel Defense Forces stated in the early morning hours of Monday that it had launched a large wave of airstrikes against infrastructure of the “Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran.”

It did not specify which sites were targeted.

Likud Party lawmaker Eli Dallal told JNS on Monday that Trump, over the past month, took unprecedented action by directly confronting the Iranian nuclear threat, in a move vital to preserving global stability.

“At the end of the day, every war must lead to political decisions and conclusions. If Iran agrees to halt nuclear development, stop advancing its ballistic missile program and relinquish its uranium stockpiles, I think that would be a major achievement. The tactical steps being taken to create the conditions for this are fluid,” Dallal said.

“The war must end through an agreement between Israel and the United States, just as it began. The terms must be acceptable to Israel. The conditions should be clearly defined, including an end to nuclear development and ballistic missile production. We also need to differentiate between the war with Iran and the war with Hezbollah. The end of the conflict with Hezbollah cannot be dependent on the end of the war with Iran,” he added.

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