Updated March 24, 2026 at 4:46 PM CDT
President Trump said on Tuesday Iran made a valuable offer to reach a deal with the United States, in negotiations that Iranian officials have so far denied are taking place.
He would not specify what the offer was but said it was "a very significant prize" related to the Strait of Hormuz.
"We've won this. This war has been won," Trump declared in the Oval Office Tuesday.
But Iran also believes it is winning in its form of asymmetric warfare, analysts and former U.S. officials say.
Trump's comments on a possible deal came even as thousands of U.S. Marines as well as the commander and some staff of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division are headed to the Middle East.
NPR has also confirmed that the Israeli military wants to keep fighting Iran for several more weeks to achieve its war aims.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Israel continued to attack Iran on Tuesday, with Iran's Revolutionary Guard reporting a strike on a gas supply line feeding a power station in southwest Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency said another projectile hit Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. Iran fired multiple barrages of missiles, including one that hit Tel Aviv.
Here's what else to know about the latest developments in the conflict.
To jump to specific areas of coverage, use the links below:
U.S.-Iran talks | Iran-Israel strikes | Displaced Iranians | Israel strikes Lebanon | Lebanon expels Iran envoy
Pakistan's prime minister: "Ready" to facilitate talks to end the war
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said on social media his country "stands ready" to facilitate talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. He followed his statement by tagging the X accounts of President Trump, as well as a U.S. envoy and Iran's foreign minister.
Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the WAR in Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in region and beyond. Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) March 24, 2026
Neither the U.S. nor Iran have commented on Pakistan's public offer to host talks. Pakistan has warm relations with the Trump administration, Iran and Gulf nations.
Earlier, an Israeli official told NPR that planning was underway for talks in Pakistan later this week. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.
President Trump has suggested that the Iran war could be heading toward a diplomatic off-ramp, describing negotiations with the Iranians in positive terms on social media and to reporters this week.
After initially threatening to "obliterate" Iran's power plants, he posted on Truth Social on Monday that he had ordered a five-day delay on striking the country's energy infrastructure while the talks continue.
Iran's Foreign Ministry denied entering negotiations with the U.S. The parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, alleged the talks were "fake news [that] is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped."
But while Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei denied Iran was negotiating with the U.S., he told state media that the ministry was responding to requests through intermediaries of friendly countries.
NPR has confirmed there are backchannel efforts to open dialogue. Intermediaries such as Pakistan as well as Egypt and Turkey have been relaying messages between the parties and are playing a role in efforts toward de-escalation.
Qamar Cheema, the executive director of the Islamabad-based think tank the Sanober Institute, told NPR that Pakistan has been working to facilitate negotiations between Iran and the U.S. since Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Saudi Arabia alongside other regional counterparts last week.
Cheema is considered close to Pakistan's government and military. He said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff "has a direct connection" to Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief. "They have a good working relation," he said.
President Trump has also spoken warmly about the Pakistani field marshal general, calling him a "great general" and "a great guy" in February.
The Pakistani prime minister's office did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on the efforts.
— Diaa Hadid, Aya Batrawy and Alex Leff
Tel Aviv hit as Iran fires new wave of missiles at Israel
The Israeli military said Iran fired missiles at Israel at least eight times on Tuesday, with impacts reported in at least four sites across the country. At least six people were injured in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli health officials.
NPR visited the site of the blast in an upscale residential neighborhood of Tel Aviv, and identified a crater in the middle of the road where the missile fell. The facade of an apartment building next to it was badly damaged, and cars in the surrounding area were crushed.
Israeli police estimate the Iranian missile contained a warhead with about 220 pounds of explosives. Israel's defense systems did not intercept it.
Earlier on Tuesday, an explosion was reported in northern Israel, injuring at least one person. Other blasts were reported in southern Israel.
Around 15 people in Israel and four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been killed by Iranian strikes since the start of the war on Feb. 28, according to Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
— Daniel Estrin
NPR speaks to Iranians at the Turkish-Iranian border
NPR has spoken to more Iranians fleeing Iran, as the war nears its one-month mark.
Many said they were relieved that Trump said he would postpone his initial threat to target Iran's power plants, but worried the U.S. would reach an agreement with Iran that would keep the current government in place.
Speaking from the eastern Turkish-Iranian border Tuesday, Iranians spoke about hearing heavy bombardments, especially in Iran's capital of Tehran. They also told reporters about a large Iranian security presence on the streets.
All asked not to be identified by name over fears of Iranian government reprisal.
One man, speaking out against the war, said he believed Israel's motive for bombing the country is to expand its borders into Iran.
Most Iranians NPR spoke to said they supported the strikes on Iran from the U.S. and Israel.
"We needed a foreign military intervention to save us," one person said. Israeli-U.S. strikes "already killed the former Supreme Leader [Ali] Khamenei and I hope they kill the rest [of the leadership] soon."
Another man, whose hometown was very active in a wave of anti-government protests in January, said he felt Iranians had gone through enough suffering under the current leadership.
He said "everything is gone" from my hometown — and that "what is left is the bitterness of 47 years that is strangling us [Iranians]."
The man said a turning point for him was the bloody Iranian government crackdown. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based human rights monitoring group, says it has confirmed that Iran killed more than 7,000 of its own citizens in the protests.
— Emily Feng
Israeli airstrike kills two in Beirut
Lebanon's Health Ministry said that an Israeli airstrike killed at least two people southeast of Beirut.
The strike was one of several explosions heard across the Lebanese capital overnight. In a social media post, Israel's military said it was targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Israel's attacks in Lebanon in March have killed more than 1,000 people and its multiple evacuation warnings have displaced more than 1 million, according to the Lebanese government.
But Monday's strike southeast of the capital came without warning from the Israeli military. Footage shows flames and smoke billowing from a residential building.
This week, Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, threatened to use the "model" of destruction the military has used in the Gaza Strip in Lebanon, which razed many residential areas. He also said he's accelerating the destruction of Lebanese homes in border villages, from which Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, fired rockets.
In its latest report, Human Rights Watch said forcible displacement and deliberate targeting of civilians constitute war crimes.
Israel's assault in Lebanon escalated after Hezbollah began firing rockets at northern Israel in early March in support of Iran and following months of repeated Israeli attacks in Lebanon despite a ceasefire.
Lebanon expels Iran's ambassador
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry said it withdrew the Iranian ambassador's accreditation and demanded he leave no later than Sunday.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is a force in Lebanese politics. But Lebanon's government has sought international help in disarming Hezbollah. And relations between Beirut and Tehran have deteriorated.
The last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024 left thousands dead and the country with billions of dollars in destruction.
Now, some Lebanese blame Hezbollah for dragging them into another war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran, sparking Israel's retaliation.
— Lauren Frayer
Diaa Hadid contributed reporting from Mumbai, India, Daniel Estrin and Itay Stern from Tel Aviv, Israel, Lauren Frayer from Beirut, Emily Feng from Van, Turkey, Rebecca Rosman from Paris, Aya Batrawy from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Franco Ordoñez and Alex Leff from Washington.
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