Israel bombs ‘heart of Tehran’ as Trump mulls 10,000 more ground troops (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

The US president touts talks with Iran as the secretary of war vows to keep “negotiating with bombs”

US President Donald Trump has claimed that talks with Tehran “are going very well” and delayed strikes on Iranian power facilities for another ten days – while Israel has intensified its strikes and the Pentagon reportedly mulls additional deployments to the region.

The IDF conducted a wide-scale bombing raid “in the heart of Tehran” and elsewhere across Iran overnight, targeting unspecified infrastructure.

The Iranian Red Crescent said the strikes hit a number of civilian buildings, with search and rescue operations underway in the capital, the central city of Qom, and Urmia in West Azerbaijan province.

Although Trump once again claimed during a White House Cabinet meeting on Thursday that progress is being made in negotiations, the Department of War is reportedly considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground forces to the Middle East. If approved, the new deployment would add to 2,000 elite paratroopers and up to 5,000 Marines already en route to the region.

“The Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs,” Pete Hegseth said, amid mounting concerns of a looming ground invasion.

Tehran has denied that it is holding direct talks with the US and reportedly outlined its own strict terms for a ceasefire, refusing to talk on Washington’s terms, after the US and Israel already “backstabbed” Iran twice during negotiations.

Read more

Here are the latest developments:

• Russia has close relations with Iran – but this does not mean it shares intelligence with Tehran – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, noting that the locations of US bases in the Middle East are “publicly available information” and “everyone in the region knows their coordinates.”

• Trump initially threatened last Saturday to “obliterate” Iran’s power network if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping. After Tehran warned it will retaliate against the entire regional energy infrastructure, Trump postponed his threat for five days on Monday. On Thursday, he postponed the deadline until April 6, claiming that Tehran begged for more time.

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was reportedly “temporarily” removed from the US-Israeli kill list for Washington to have someone to talk to, has said that receiving messages does not constitute “talks.”

Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.