The US president has extended his deadline for talks with Iran for 10 days amid mounting concerns of a looming ground invasion

US President Donald Trump has claimed that talks with Tehran "are going very well" and delayed strikes on the Islamic Republic's power facilities for another 10 days, while the Pentagon is reportedly mulling sending another 10,000 troops to the region.

The Department of War is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground forces to the Middle East to expand the US leader's military options against Iran, according to officials familiar with the planning, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US military is devising a "final blow" to Iran that could see American ground troops deployed on Iranian soil, according to Axios sources.

If approved, the new deployment would add to thousands of troops already en route to the region, including approximately 2,000 to 3,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and two Marine Expeditionary Units totaling an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 Marines and support personnel.

In the meantime Trump has again touted alleged progress in negotiations with unnamed Iranian interlocutors, repeatedly hinting at an imminent deal to calm turbulent global markets.

Tehran has denied holding direct talks with the US and outlined strict conditions for any ceasefire, refusing to talk on Washington's terms, after the US and Israel already "backstabbed" Iran twice during negotiations last summer and in February.

Here are the latest developments:

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

• Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was reportedly "temporarily" removed from the US-Israeli kill list for Washington to have someone to talk to, has insisted that receiving messages does not constitute "talks."

• Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly warned a security cabinet meeting that without a new conscription law, a reserve duty law and a law to extend mandatory service, the IDF will "collapse in on itself" due to a mounting manpower shortage.

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(RT.com)