# Trump extends Iran deadline for Hormuz opening to April 6 as strikes continue
*Event date: 2026-03-26*
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was extending by 10 days the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, pushing it to Monday, April 6, after saying negotiations with Tehran were “going very well”. The statement came as the war between Iran, the US and Israel widened and as shipping risks in the Gulf remained acute.
Trump announced the extension on Truth Social, saying he was pausing what he called “Energy Plant destruction” at Iranian request. He later told Fox News that Iran had asked for seven days and said the two sides were still talking. The president also repeated his claim that the war had effectively already been won and that Tehran still had a chance to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The warning was paired with a threat of more killings of senior Iranian figures if no agreement emerged. Earlier in the day, Trump had urged Iranian leaders to negotiate an end to the conflict or face further assassinations of senior officials. That came after Israel said it had killed the Revolutionary Guards’ naval commander, Alireza Tangsiri, and several other officers in a strike on the port of Bandar Abbas.
The fighting was not confined to the Gulf. The Guardian reported heavy strikes around Isfahan and said Iranian retaliatory attacks continued across parts of the Middle East. Air defences in Israel intercepted incoming missiles, while booms were heard in Tel Aviv, Modi’in and Jerusalem. In the Gulf, further Iranian attacks were also intercepted.
The dispute over Hormuz remains the central strategic risk. The strait carries a vast share of global oil shipping, and the report said Tehran still has smaller boats capable of laying mines as well as anti-ship missiles that can be launched from shore. Either would be enough to threaten traffic through the waterway.
Trump said he wanted an agreement that would both keep the strait open and end Iran’s military and nuclear ambitions, but he left open the possibility that no deal would be reached. The White House also heard from its envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who said the US had sent Iran a 15-point action list via Pakistan as a possible framework for peace.
As diplomacy continued, pressure on shipping and energy markets was also rising. The Guardian said crude exports from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu had surged as an alternate route, while Yemen’s Houthis told Lloyd’s List they saw no reason to block Red Sea trade. The comments underlined how the conflict was spreading far beyond the immediate battlefield and into the commercial arteries of the region.
