Trump says he and Israel have called off Iran attack after being assured deal is imminent

US President Donald Trump said late Saturday that he had called off a major attack on Iran after being assured by Tehran and other Middle East countries that a framework for a deal to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “end the Iran nuclear threat” had been reached, adding that Israel was also on board, though Jerusalem did not immediately make a public statement on the issue.

“The USA 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,” he continued. "This would include the Immediate, complete, and total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat."

"Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” he added.

“The country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE,” he concluded.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war, Trump has repeatedly threatened to carry out major threats against Iran’s energy sites only to walk it back, claiming mediators had assured him of an imminent breakthrough in negotiations for a diplomatic settlement.

Iranian military officials quoted in the country’s heavily state-controlled media on Sunday, however, pushed back on Trump's claim that Tehran asked for planned attacks to be called off as a deal to end the war comes together.

The unnamed sources called the claim a “lie” and accused Trump of attempting to extort and pressure Gulf leaders. Iran’s forces are at the highest level of readiness, the sources said, warning that should fighting take place, it will be “decisive” and show who holds the real power.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi officials, warned the US against any “adventurous action” and said Tehran would retaliate decisively if American forces followed through on Trump's threats of fresh attacks on Iranian targets.

Speaking to Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Araghchi said Iran would respond decisively to any "aggression" and discussed the consequences of “destabilizing actions" by the US, as well as prospects for heightened regional insecurity, according to Araghchi's Telegram account.

Araghchi later told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan that any attacks by the US and Israel or participation by regional countries in such actions would be met with a “proportionate response.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to Trump on Saturday and "expressed concern and asked for clarity" about US plans for Iran, a US official told Axios.

The Saudi crown prince spoke to Trump, a White House official told media outlets including Reuters, but did not provide details.

Nournews, a media outlet affiliated with Iran's top security body, said on Saturday that US attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian strikes on oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the gas fields of Qatar and Israel, saying: "All will be burned to ashes."

According to a New York Times report earlier Saturday, Iranian officials developed a step-by-step plan to ramp up attacks in the region in order to pressure Trump, including by enlisting its proxy terror groups– Hamas, Hezbollah and Shiite militias in Iraq — to join in the escalatory attacks.

The Iran International opposition media outlet quoted Iran’s Fars news agency on Saturday as listing Israel’s Leviathan and Tamar gas fields among major energy facilities in the region as possible targets for an Iranian response to US attacks.

Fars also cited oil and gas fields and refineries in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain among possible targets.

Israel’s Channel 12 had reported that Israel believed Iran would have fired ballistic missiles at it even if the IDF did not initially participate in Trump’s planned intensified offensive.

At a cabinet meeting on Friday at the Camp David retreat, Trump said he believed US negotiators, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, could still reach a deal with Iran.

But Trump also said he was losing faith in the Iranians, saying that "they break their word so often" — a claim Tehran has frequently leveled at Washington — and said he would be "hitting them."

Oil prices have stayed high since US and Israeli forces started the war with strikes on Iran on February 28. Trump has argued that his stated goal of keeping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons justifies higher fuel costs in the near term, but the economic pain has put political pressure on him to find a way to end the war.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 24 percent in July, and analysts polled by Reuters expect prices to rise further this year.

The risk of Iranian attacks has deterred most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, an important conduit for global energy supplies, since the start of the conflict, sending shockwaves through the world economy.

A government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company on Bubiyan Island were hit on Saturday, with falling shrapnel causing material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti army said.

Adding to the energy industry's concerns, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen recently began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, another export route for Saudi crude.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman, including one in which a tanker was struck by an unknow...

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: The Times of Israel. Open at source →