U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that planned military strikes targeting Iran have been put on hold, provided that a swift agreement can be reached with Tehran.
Speaking on his platform Truth Social, Trump stated that both Iran and other regional states had appealed to Washington to refrain from an military assault. The President asserted that the basic parameters for a settlement were already in place, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an “end to the Iranian nuclear threat.”
This announcement comes after media reports indicated that the United States had scheduled large-scale, new attacks against Iran over the weekend. Already on Saturday, Tehran had accused Washington of aggravating the situation, warning that any country in the region cooperating with the U.S. would “burn in the flames of war.”
In the lead-up to the threat, U.S. media, including CBS, reported that the U.S. and Israel had planned one of the toughest bombing campaigns against Iranian energy infrastructure. This initiative had reportedly been discussed in Trump’s cabinet meeting on Friday.
Despite the suspension, Trump reiterated his warning in his post, stating that the U.S. was “charged and ready” to take action against Iran-with a level of military severity not seen since the Second World War. However, he justified the cancellation of attacks by citing the “future benefit to the world” and the survival of a “successful and prosperous Iran.” As of yet, Tehran had not responded to the announcement. Separately, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly expressed his concern over the possible attacks during a phone call with Trump on Saturday.
Relations between Washington and Tehran have been defined by mutual attacks since the failure of a ceasefire attempt in April, which was supposed to pause the conflict. Just this week, the U.S. reported a “heavy wave” of retaliatory strikes following a attempted rocket attack on U.S. soldiers.
Over the past months, the U.S. has blocked Iranian ports and bombed targets within the country. Iran, in turn, has targeted U.S. facilities in several countries in the region and attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil transport. The initial U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28th and resulted in significant fluctuations in oil prices.
Amid the heightened tension, the U.S. government urged its citizens in the Middle East to remain vigilant, advising them to prepare to leave the region if escalation occurs. The security advisory cautioned that flight cancellations, temporary airspace closures, and travel disruptions were possible.
