Iran War Enters 28th Day: Trump Delays Deadline As Hormuz Remains Obstructed
Iran War Enters 28th Day: Trump Delays Deadline As Hormuz Remains Obstructed
Pentagon considers deploying 10,000 more ground troops, Wall Street Journal says
The Iran War entered its 28th day Friday as President Donald Trump once again extended his deadline to strike Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz is fully opened, this time by 10 days. In a post on Truth Social Thursday afternoon, Trump said that “as per Iranian Government request,” Trump will be “pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” adding that “talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary.”
Iran denied that it made any request or that talks exist at all. A senior Iranian official told Drop Site News that “[Trump] is not being truthful. We have not submitted any request regarding potential U.S. attacks,” and the Wall Street Journal later reported the same.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Pentagon is weighing a plan to send as many as 10,000 more ground troops to the region. The move would follow the deployment of 5,000 Marines and thousands of troops from the 82nd Airborne Division. The U.S. maintains a force of approximately 50,000 service members stationed at nearly 20 sites in the Persian Gulf region. A U.S. official said Friday that 303 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that the U.S. has fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iran in just four weeks, representing a quarter of the entire U.S. Tomahawk stockpile. The latest Tomahawks cost up to $3.6 million each and can take as long as two years to produce, with the Navy requesting only 57 in last year’s budget.
In response to American and Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Friday warned civilians across the region to avoid areas near U.S. military positions, saying American forces were using civilian sites as “human shields.” The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Iranian strikes have damaged multiple U.S. bases across the Middle East so severely that thousands of American troops have been moved to hotels and other improvised remote locations. In its statement, the IRGC said it would continue targeting U.S. and Israeli forces “wherever” they are found and urged residents to leave nearby areas “urgently” to avoid harm.
Two COSCO ultra-large container vessels aborted attempted transits of the Strait of Hormuz early Friday, a sign that commercial shipping remains severely disrupted despite reports of a limited Iranian-approved passage system. The aborted transit follows a Financial Times report that Iran has established a de facto approval system for vessels seeking to cross Hormuz allowing only “non-hostile” ships to pass in coordination with Iranian authorities while excluding U.S., Israeli, and other allied traffic. The Financial Times reported some shipowners have allegedly paid up to $2 million for passage. Maritime tracking data shows that an average of two vessels per day have been permitted to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Before the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran, an average of more than 100 ships passed through Hormuz daily.
Brent crude oil rose to around $110 a barrel, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.46 percent, its highest since the war began. Gas prices remained elevated; AAA reported the national average price of regular gas at $3.98 per gallon.
Iranian missile and drone attacks on U.S. interests across the region continued Friday, as Gulf states reported new interceptions and Israeli military strain appeared to deepen. Reuters reported on Friday that U.S. intelligence can confirm with confidence only that roughly one-third of Iran’s missile arsenal has been destroyed, while another third is believed likely damaged, buried, or otherwise inaccessible .
Kuwait said Friday that Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port was hit in a combined drone and cruise missile attack, causing damage but no casualties. It was the second port struck that day, after a separate drone attack on Shuwaikh Port, Kuwait’s main shipping hub, also caused damage without injuries.
Israeli media reported that the IDF chief of staff privately warned the government the military is nearing a breaking point after roughly 900 consecutive days of war across multiple fronts. According to that account, he cited severe reservist exhaustion from simultaneous operations in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and now Iran as well as the government’s failure to pass an ultra-orthodox conscription law.
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