Trump says he will cancel strikes on Iran if a deal is reached quickly.
Donald Trump says he has cancelled planned strikes against Iran, provided a deal can be reached “rapidly” with Tehran.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he had decided to “cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL” that would include the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to what he described as “Iran’s nuclear threat”.
Trump said the decision was made in coordination with Israel. His announcement came after US media reports that Washington was preparing a new wave of major strikes on Iran over the weekend.
Earlier, Tehran accused the US of escalating tensions, warning that any regional country co-operating with Washington would be “engulfed by the flames of war”.
In his post, Trump said the US was “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”.
However, he said he had called off the strikes after Iran and other countries in the Middle East asked him to “hold off” to allow time for negotiations.
He also suggested progress had been made towards an agreement, writing that the “perimeters of a deal has been agreed to”.
“This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” he wrote.
Iran has not publicly responded to Trump’s announcement.
Earlier on Saturday, the US government urged Americans across the Middle East to remain alert and be prepared to leave “should there be escalation” in the region.
“Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions,” a US security alert said.
Before Trump’s announcement, multiple sources told CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, that the US and Israel had been planning what could have been one of their most extensive bombing campaigns yet against Iran’s energy infrastructure.
According to CBS News, the plans were discussed during Trump’s cabinet meeting on Friday.
During that meeting, while reporters were still in the room, Trump was heard saying: “We’ll be hitting them [Iranians] very hard. At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.'”
Axios and Reuters reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump on Saturday and expressed concern about the prospect of the strikes.
Washington and Tehran have exchanged escalating military action since a ceasefire intended to pause the conflict collapsed in June.
Earlier this week, the US said it had carried out a “heavy wave” of strikes against Iran in response to what it said was an attempted ballistic missile attack on American forces in the region.
The US has blockaded Iranian ports and struck sites inside Iran, while Tehran has launched missiles and drones at US assets across the Middle East and targeted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil supplies.
The US and Israel began their military campaign against Iran on 28 February, with the conflict contributing to sharp swings in global oil prices.
