President Donald Trump said the United States postponed a planned military attack after Iran and other Middle Eastern countries requested additional time and the basic terms of a possible deal were established.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump announced Saturday night that he had postponed a planned attack on Iran after the two sides and other regional governments reached what he described as the “perimeters” of a new agreement.
Trump said the United States remained prepared to launch a major military operation but agreed to hold off after receiving a request from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.
“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”
Trump said the proposed agreement would require “the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
He also said “the Country of Israel joins me in this commitment.”
The announcement followed reports that the administration was considering a new bombing campaign against critical Iranian energy and infrastructure targets as a means of pressuring Tehran during ceasefire negotiations.
Sources told Axios that “a new U.S. bombing campaign in Iran against energy and infrastructure targets would be aimed at trying to get the Iranians to agree to the United States’ terms in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.”
The reported operation was expected to involve the Israeli military for the first time in several weeks and likely would have prompted direct Iranian retaliation against Israel.
Trump had publicly raised the possibility of another intense round of attacks during a televised Cabinet meeting Friday.
“Well, we’ll be hitting them very hard and, you know, at some point they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore,’” Trump said.
A U.S. official told Axios that Iran had been “very aggressive” during the previous week, beginning with a surprise missile strike against an American base in Jordan and followed by attacks on U.S. forces elsewhere in the region.
Iran also attacked commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, escalating concerns about the security of one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
Trump had previously warned that renewed attacks on vessels in the strait would result in U.S. strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges, including infrastructure in Tehran.
His decision to delay the operation signals that diplomatic discussions are continuing, although the terms described by the president have not yet been finalized publicly. The proposed arrangement would address two of Washington’s central demands: restoring unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and ending the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
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