Hours after United States President Donald Trump announced the suspension of an attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday (March 23) that it is closely monitoring the situation in West Asia three weeks into the conflict.
Speaking at an inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in West Asia, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the ministry is focusing on such activities as the situation evolves amid the conflict.
“We are watching developments closely – as always. We are watching all these activities,” said Randhir Jaiswal.
The remarks came after Donald Trump announced the US War Department would not target Iranian energy sites for five days, citing ongoing diplomatic negotiations with Tehran amid escalating tensions in West Asia.
What Trump said
In an interview with Truth Social, Donald Trump informed that the two countries had very good talks with the Iranian team to resolve hostilities in the West Asian region.
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He added that the decision to suspend attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure was taken in light of the “content and tone” of the discussions, which he described as “in-depth, detailed and constructive”.
Trump also announced that talks would continue throughout the week.
Truth Social’s post read: “I am pleased to report that the United States of America and the country of Iran have had very good and productive conversations over the past two days regarding the full and complete resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.
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“Based on the content and tone of these in-depth, detailed and constructive talks, which will continue throughout the week, I have directed the War Department to delay any military strikes against Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, subject to the success of ongoing meetings and discussions. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” added.
Conflict between the US, Israel and Iran in West Asia
The announcement of the suspension of the attack on Iranian sites came as the conflict, which began on February 28, came as the war between Israel, the US and Iran entered its fourth week.
The move marks a shift from Trump’s earlier stance, in which he gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and warned of dire consequences if the demand was not met.
In an earlier post on Truth Social, Donald Trump threatened Iran and gave it 48 hours to “fully open” the canal within 48 hours or the United States would target Iran’s power plants and “wipe them out.”
The post read: “If Iran does not FULLY open the Strait of Hormuz WITHOUT THREAT within 48 HOURS from this exact moment, the United States of America will strike and obliterate its various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST FIRST!
Following the threat, Iran issued a warning to the United States that any attack on the country’s southern coast and islands would be punished by obstruction of the Persian Gulf routes.
“As soon as the power plants and infrastructure in our country are targeted, critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure and oil facilities throughout the region will be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed and the price of oil will remain high for a long time,” Ghalibaf said in his post.
The council said all access roads in the bay would be mined by various types of sea mines, including floating mines.
“Any attempt to attack Iran’s coasts or islands will cause all access routes in the Persian Gulf (…) to be mined by various types of sea mines, including floating mines that can be released from the coast,” Iran’s Defense Council said in a statement.
“In this case, the entire gulf will practically be in a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long time (…) We should not forget the failure of more than 100 minesweepers in the 1980s to remove several sea mines.”
