Donald Trump said America was in talks with a "more reasonable regime to end” the war in Iran as the cost of oil jumped and stocks fell after thousands more US troops were deployed to the Middle East.
As he made the upbeat claim, the US president also repeated his warning to Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk American attacks on its oil wells and power plants.
Thousands of US troops have been deployed to the region for a possible land operation.
Trump appeared to be ramping up his threats while seeking an off-ramp to end the conflict.
“The United States of America is in serious discussion with a NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,” he posted on his Truth Social platform before US markets opened on Monday.
He also claimed, despite denials from Tehran: "Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island.”
Earlier, stocks slumped in Asia on Monday as investors dug in for a protracted Gulf conflict that already has oil prices heading for a record monthly rise, bringing a spike in inflation and the risk of recession to much of the globe.
Japan’s Nikkei index was down 4.7%.
Oil prices looked poised to extend their gains, with Brent headed for a record monthly rise.
Brent crude futures jumped to above $117 (£88) a barrel just after midnight UK time.
With the war in its fifth week, US special forces could be sent in to try to seize Iran’s uranium stockpile in a highly dangerous operation being considered by Donald Trump, according to Washington sources.
The mission would be fraught with risk and could lead to high US casualties.
But the US president is said to be mulling over the move which would significantly degrade Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear bomb and allow him to claim a victory in the conflict.
“They’re going to give us the nuclear dust,” Trump said on Sunday night, referring to Iran’s uranium.
Iran is believed to have stockpiled, before the US/Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow in the summer of last year, some 400kgs of 60% highly enriched uranium, and around 200kgs of 20% fissile material, which could be converted into 90%-weapons-grade uranium.
US elite troops have been specially training for an operation to capture this material, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But the operation would mean the American forces having to fly to several heavily-guarded sites.
Hundreds, if not more, soldiers would be needed to secure sites before engineers could start to try to recover the nuclear material which could be in 40 to 50 smallish cylinders.
They would need to be transported in specially-protected containers to avoid the risk of a catastrophic accident as they are flown out of the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, thousands of US sailors and Marines have arrived in the Middle East as Trump said he is considering seizing Iranian oil hub Kharg Island.
The move would aim to end Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of global oil and gas shipments and has spiked oil prices and spread economic pain around the world.
The 3,500-strong force arrived aboard the USS Tripoli over the weekend, according to US Central Command.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the US President said he wanted to “take the oil in Iran” and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island. Taking control of Kharg would require ground troops.
The island handles 90% of Iran’s oil exports and seizing it would give the United States the ability to severely disrupt Iran’s energy trade, placing enormous pressure on Tehran’s economy.
Trump also said the US and Iran have been meeting “directly and indirectly” and that Tehran’s new leaders have been “very reasonable”, as Tehran warned it will not accept humiliation.
Trump’s remarks on Sunday came after Pakistan, which is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington, said it was preparing to host “meaningful talks” in the coming days aimed at ending the month-long Iran war.
“I think we’ll make a deal with them, I’m pretty sure, but it’s possible we won’t,” Trump told reporters on Sunday evening as he travelled aboard Air Force One to Washington.
Trump said he thought the US had already accomplished regime change in Tehran after strikes killed the country’s supreme leader and other top officials, but said twice that their replacements seemed “reasonable.”
An initial Israeli strike on February 28 killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was replaced by his son Mojtaba.
The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands, causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies and hitting the global economy.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said talks between regional foreign ministers on Sunday covered ways to bring an early end to the war, and potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.
U.S. Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tripoli (LHA 7) arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 27. The America-class amphibious assault ship serves as the flagship for the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group / 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit composed of about… pic.twitter.com/JFWiPBbkd2
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 28, 2026
“Pakistan will be honoured to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in coming days, for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict,” he said. It was not clear whether the U.S. and Iran had agreed to attend.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, earlier accused the US of sending messages about possible negotiations while at the same time planning a ground invasion. Tehran was ready to respond if US soldiers were deployed, he said.
He added that Tehran is “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire”.
An Israeli official said there was no intention to scale back attacks against Iran ahead of any possible talks between Washington and Tehran, and that Israel would continue carrying out strikes against what it described as military targets.
Israel’s military said it had launched over 140 air strikes on central and western Iran, including Tehran, over the 24 hours to Sunday evening, hitting ballistic missile launch sites and storage facilities, among other targets.
Iranian state media reported strikes had hit Mehrabad airport and a petrochemical plant in the northern city of Tabriz.
A chemical plant in southern Israel near the city of Beersheba was hit by a missile or missile debris as Israel fended off multiple salvos from Iran, prompting official warnings to the public to stay away due to “hazardous materials”.
Several hundred special operations personnel have arrived in the region, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing two military officials. That comes on top of thousands of US Marines that came on Friday aboard an amphibious assault ship, the first of two contingents, the US military has said.
