Top updates: Trump orders 5-day pause on military strikes against Iran’s power plants

United States President Donald Trump on Monday said that he has directed the Department of War to postpone “any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure” for a five day period after “good and productive conversations” between Washington and Tehran.

He said that the halt in strikes would depend on the success of ongoing meetings and discussions between the two countries.

The statement came a day after Iran warned that it would attack key US infrastructure in West Asia if Washington follows through on its threat to strike its power plants.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• Iran’s defence council on Monday stated that it would mine “all access routes and communications lines in the Persian Gulf and coastal areas”, AFP reported. This would include deploying “drifting mines deployable from the coasts” if its coastlines or islands were attacked.
• Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, has cut crude supply to Asian buyers for a second month in April, Reuters quoted two officials as saying on Monday. Saudi Arabia has exported ​4.3 million barrels per day of crude so far ⁠in March, the news agency reported, citing data from analytics firm Kpler. This was down from 7.1 ‌million barrels per day in February.
• An Indian citizen was injured by...

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