US President Donald Trump has announced a 10-day pause on attacks targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue, even as the humanitarian situation inside Iran deteriorates, and fears of a wider regional conflict intensify.
Trump insists that talks are progressing, with US officials having presented a 15-point framework aimed at ending nearly four weeks of fighting. Iran, however, is resisting the proposal, with a senior official dismissing it as “one-sided and unfair.”
President Trump said he will extend the pause on strikes against Iranian energy plants into April and that discussions with Tehran were going “very well”, while Iranian officials continued to condemn the US plan as “one-sided and unfair”.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujaric warned that civilians and vital infrastructure remain the most affected as the conflict drags on. “Humanitarians are not immune to these hostilities, which have forced people to relocate to safer areas, increasing their vulnerability and often disrupting their access to essential needs.”
Aid agencies are still distributing food, shelter and medical assistance, but thousands of people have already been displaced, and casualties have been recorded across multiple regions.
At the same time, tensions are spilling beyond Iran’s borders, fuelling concerns of an expanding regional confrontation. Armed groups aligned with Tehran have indicated their readiness to respond. Houthi leader Abdul Malik said they “will never hesitate to fulfil their Islamic duty in the path of God against the tyrant of this era, the Zionist Jews and their American arm,” adding: “Any developments in the battle that requires a military stance, we will take with full confidence in God and reliance upon him as in previous rounds.”
Trump remarked that Iran now has an opportunity to permanently relinquish its nuclear ambitions and choose a “new path forward.” He added, “We’ll see if they want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away, unimpeded, unstopped. There’s not a thing they can do about it. They can’t do anything about it. If they could – if they could, you’d be hearing about it. You don’t hear anything about it.” – SABC News



