Top updates: Trump orders pause on strikes against Iran’s power plants, Tehran says he ‘backed down’

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.

Shortly after Trump’s statement, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that there was no “direct or indirect” conversation with the US president.

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

• Trump also said that the halt in strikes would depend on the success of ongoing meetings and discussions between the two countries.
• However, the Iranian government said that the US president “backed down after hearing that our targets would be all the power plants in West Asia” Fars reported. On Sunday, Iran reiterated its warning that it would strike energy and water infrastructure in the Gulf if Trump follows through on his threat to attack the country’s electricity installations, Reuters reported.
• While speaking to Fox News later, Trump claimed that Iran had said that they are “willing to make a deal”, which the US had agreed to. However, he added that the deal must be “good” and stated that there will be “no more wars or nuclear weapons”.
• The threat had led to concerns in a region that is dependent on desalination for drinking...

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