Iran and Israel keep up attacks after Trump extends deadline

Iran and Israel exchanged missile fire and Tehran targeted several Gulf states, underscoring the willingness of the two sides to keep fighting even as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for peace talks.

Saudi Arabian authorities reported that they intercepted several drone and missiles on Friday, many heading to the capital, Riyadh. In Qatar, residents of Doha got missile alerts on their phones for the first time in days, while Israel said it detected launches from Iran. Kuwait said drones damaged two ports. There were no casualties announced for any of the incidents.

Israel, meanwhile, continued to strike what it said were missile- and mine-production sites in Iran. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would escalate its assault on the Islamic Republic in response to the targeting of civilians, echoing the general sentiment from Israeli leaders that they remain committed to the campaign.

The attacks came hours after Trump pushed back his deadline for Iran to agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power infrastructure. The 10-day extension was his second since Saturday’s threat to destroy the critical infrastructure in the absence of Tehran reopening the critical waterway, a chokepoint that’s become increasingly urgent with global energy and commodity shortages mounting.

Brent crude rose 2.7% to about $111 a barrel on Friday, extending its climb this year to 82%. The conflict has caused fuel shortages and fears of stagflation across major and emerging market economies.

Iran has rejected a 15-point list of ceasefire terms delivered by the U.S. via intermediaries in Pakistan, and has countered with five conditions of its own, including the maintaining of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

While the two sides appear far apart in the effort to reach an agreement, Trump said talks with Iran are going “very well.” Still, he said the American war effort is “ahead of schedule,” and the longer deadline allows more time for the U.S. to amass troops in the region.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is considering sending as many as 10,000 additional soldiers to the Middle East.

Some European governments think it’s all but inevitable the U.S. will deploy ground troops, despite the high risk of casualties, according to a diplomat familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive subjects.

Iran’s government believes there’s a high likelihood Trump tries to take over Kharg Island, the Persian Gulf site from which Iran sends most of its oil exports, according to an official from the Islamic Republic, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Military analysts say that aside from Kharg Island, the U.S. could try to take control of the Iranian side of the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to reopen the vital waterway to oil and gas tankers and container ships. It could send special forces to retrieve Iran’s roughly 440 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium, the whereabouts of which have been a mystery to nuclear inspectors since the U.S. and Israel last bombed Iran in June. All options would be highly risky for American troops.

Publicly, Iranian officials remain defiant and say Trump is backing down from his threats to try to bring down energy prices.

“I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday. “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.”

Global stocks are experiencing their biggest monthly drop since 2022, though the sell off eased in early trading on Friday. Bonds extended losses on fears of rising prices. The OECD has sharply increased its inflation forecast for Group of 20 economies this year to 4% — with an even higher pace in the U.S.

Earlier Thursday, Iranian media indicated the country was still awaiting a response after rejecting the U.S. proposal to end the war. The Iranian government has demanded certain guarantees, including that the U.S. and Israel won’t resume attacks in future, the payment of war reparations and the recognition of Tehran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. and Israel are unlikely to accept any of those.

Iran also wants an end to the war on all fronts, a likely reference to Israel’s parallel war against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Trump has said any peace agreement must prohibit Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon or enriching radioactive material for civilian purposes. The U.S. plan also stipulates that the Islamic Republic can only have a reduced missile arsenal for self-defense only, according to people familiar with the matter. Iran would get sanctions relief in return.

Reopening the Hormuz strait is key for Trump, with the waterway effectively closed since the start of the war. Normally, one fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas flow through the chokepoint. If it’s shut until June because of the continued threat of Iranian attacks on ships, crude prices may soar further to $200 a barrel, easily a record in nominal terms, Macquarie Group commodity analysts said Thursday.

In the U.S., pump prices have risen to almost $4 a gallon on average, which could hurt Trump’s Republican party ahead of midterm elections in November.

Trump said in a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that Iran had allowed 10 boats of oil to sail through as a goodwill gesture. He gave few details, and that’s just a fraction of the roughly 70 tankers that usually pass through the strait each day.

Iranian lawmakers are drafting a bill to impose a transit toll, according to the Fars news agency, underscoring the country’s confidence it can keep some form of control on traffic. It’s already charging some ships millions of dollars for safe passage, Bloomberg reported this week.

More than 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict, according to governments and non-governmental agencies. Around three-quarters of fatalities have been in Iran, while almost 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced. Dozens of people have been killed in Israel and Arab Gulf states.