Trump says he will hold off on Iran attack as ‘serious negotiations’ are under way
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.WASHINGTON—President Trump said he would hold off on a planned U.S. attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders to make room for negotiations with Tehran over a prospective deal to end the war.In a social-media post on Monday, Trump said he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other U.S.
military officials not to proceed with the attack, which he said was scheduled to take place on Tuesday. But he warned that he had “further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”The president said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked him to hold off on the attack because “serious negotiations are now taking place.” A day earlier, he warned that the “clock is ticking” and that if Iran didn’t move on peace negotiations “there won’t be anything left of them.”Trump’s post comes after weeks of stalled efforts to reach a deal to end the war since a fragile cease-fire was announced in April.
Iran has refused to meet U.S. demands that it dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian leaders responded to the latest U.S. proposal, delivered through Pakistani mediators, by saying that it would allow the gradual reopening of the strait, but leave critical nuclear issues unsolved.“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” Trump wrote on Monday.As Trump has wavered between threatening to resume a full-scale military assault on Iran and leaving open the prospect of a diplomatic settlement, the standoff has kept oil markets on edge, with Brent crude trading around $110 a barrel.Write
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