EXPLAINER
Iran officials deny any talks held with the US, as Donald Trump claims talks had taken place towards ending the war.
Published On 23 Mar 2026
The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran entered its 24th day on Monday.
Conflicting claims have emerged over possible diplomacy. Iran said no negotiations or discussions with the United States have taken place since the war began, after US President Donald Trump said the two sides had held “very good conversations” about a possible end to hostilities.
On Monday, stocks in China and Hong Kong were on track for their worst day in nearly a year as the escalating war in the Middle East fanned stagflation fears and roiled global financial markets.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for an emergency meeting later in the day as the economic fallout from the war mounts.
Meanwhile, attacks have continued in Iran, Israel and in the Gulf countries. Here is what is happening.
In Iran
- Conflicting claims over peace talks: Trump has claimed that the US and Iran are having “very good and productive conversations” to resolve hostilities in the Middle East. Trump announced a five-day postponement to attacks on Iran’s power plants, asserting that Iran wants peace and has agreed not to acquire nuclear weapons. However, Tehran strongly denies these claims, stating that no discussions or negotiations have taken place with the US since the war began.
- Energy threat: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to retaliate if power plants were targeted, hitting power plants in Israel as well as those supplying electricity to the US bases in the region.
- Bandar Abbas: One person was killed in a US-Israeli attack on a 100-kilowatt AM transmitter of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting radio station in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, according to the Mehr news agency.
- Urmia attack: An air attack flattened residential buildings in Urmia city in northwest Iran, and rescuers are searching for people under the rubble, according to state-affiliated Nour News.
- UK summons Iran envoy: Britain’s Foreign Ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador to London, Seyed Ali Mousavi, criticising what it called Tehran’s “reckless and destabilising actions” in the UK and overseas.
- International diplomatic interventions: Global and regional powers are urgently calling for an end to the conflict. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged his Iranian counterpart to end hostilities immediately, while also condemning US-Israeli strikes near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant as “extremely dangerous.”
In the Gulf
- Saudi Arabia: The country’s Ministry of Defence said that two ballistic missiles were launched towards Riyadh and that while one was intercepted, another fell in an uninhabited area. An IRGC spokesperson said its forces attacked Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia.
- UAE: The Abu Dhabi Media Office said an Indian national suffered minor injuries from falling debris in the al-Shawamekh area after the United Arab Emirates’ air defence systems intercepted a ballistic missile targeting the country’s capital. On Monday, the UAE said it was “responding to an incoming missile threat from Iran”.
- Qatar: Seven people were killed on March 22 in a helicopter crash in Qatar’s territorial waters following a technical malfunction during “routine duty”, according to the Defence Ministry. Four of those killed were Qatari armed forces personnel, while three were from Turkiye.
- Bahrain: An IRGC spokesperson said its forces attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain using missiles and drones.
- Kuwait: Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported on Sunday that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had submitted an official protest letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization over “airspace violations and attacks on airport facilities” by Iran, saying the incidents constituted a blatant breach of international civil aviation conventions and exposed passengers, airlines and airport personnel to serious risk.
- Gulf air defences: Britain is sending short-range air defence systems to the Middle East to counter Iranian missile attacks, Starmer said.
In the US
- US politics: Democrat Chuck Schumer, the US Senate’s minority leader, has called for an end to the US military operation against Iran in a post on X.
- War powers criticism: Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote in an X post that Trump is “sending our sons and daughters to war” because he is still unable to accept that he lost the 2020 election.
In Israel
- Missile alerts: Alerts went off around Jerusalem and central Israel, and explosions were reported.
- Dimona and Arad: The casualty toll from Iran’s Saturday attack on the towns of Dimona — which hosts Israel’s main nuclear facility on its outskirts — and Arad has risen, with at least 180 people injured.
In Iraq, Lebanon
- Israel strikes Lebanon bridge: The Israeli military struck a bridge linking southern Lebanon with the eastern Bekaa region, state media reported, after warning it would hit the crossing. At least 1,029 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities.
- UN Lebanon peacekeeper HQ struck: The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon announced its headquarters in Naqoura had been hit by a projectile, probably launched by a “non-state actor”, after Hezbollah declared it had targeted Israeli forces in the same town.
- Iraq, rising casualties: At least 60 people have been killed in the country so far, according to authorities. Most of them were members of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilisation Forces. One foreign crew member was killed in an attack on tankers near an Iraqi port, according to port security officials.
