U.S. President Donald Trump described discussions with Iranian negotiators as productive and pushed back a 48-hour deadline that he issued on March 22 for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for an additional five days, although Iranian officials denied that these discussions occurred, AP reported on March 23. The deadline extension came hours after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to attack power plants throughout the Middle East if the United States followed through on Trump's threat to attack Iranian power plants, and Iran's Defense Council threatened to fully mine the Strait of Hormuz if the United States conducted a land invasion.

Iran targeted the U.K.-U.S. base of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago on March 21 with two missiles, one of which failed and the other of which the United States intercepted; the attack drew rebuke from London. In addition, Iranian ballistic missile attacks on southern Israel on March 21 evaded Israeli air defenses and resulted in a mass-casualty incident after a direct strike on Arad. The United States issued a 30-day waiver on March 20 to permit the purchase of Iranian oil at sea in an effort to decrease elevated oil prices.