United States President Donald Trump has announced he will postpone a “scheduled attack” against Iran at the request of regional leaders in the Middle East.
The reversal, he said, came in light of the fact that “serious negotiations are now taking place”.
“A Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
It is unclear what, if any, breakthrough has been made in the stalled negotiations to end the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.
But Trump credited the intervention of leaders including Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with changing his mind.
“I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow,” Trump added.
Still, he noted that he “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”.
Trump’s latest post comes after days of increasingly hostile rhetoric towards Iran, with the president writing just one day earlier that the “clock is ticking” for Iranian officials to strike a deal, or else “there won’t be anything left of them”.
Pakistan has been acting as a mediator since the US joined Israel in attacking Iran on February 28, triggering the war.
Sputtering negotiations
Trump has argued that the war was necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, though the country has denied seeking one. The US president reprised that theme in Monday’s post, calling nuclear weaponry a red line.
“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN,” he wrote.
In addition to limiting Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, the Trump administration has sought to sever Iran’s ties to regional allies and dismantle its missile arsenal and navy.
But Iran has described Trump’s demands as excessive. For its part, Iran has called for frozen Iranian assets to be released and foreign sanctions on its economy to be lifted.
Control over the Strait of Hormuz has also been a sticking point, with Iran choking off trade through the vital waterway and the US responding with its own naval blockade.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that his government would protect his country’s interests, no matter what.
“Dialogue does not mean surrender,” Pezeshkian said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and protection of the rights of the nation, and will not retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country in any way.”
Iran and the US struck a ceasefire deal on April 8, following a series of threats from Trump, including that “a whole civilization will die” unless Iran changes its governance.
But that ceasefire has been fragile, with both sides accusing the other of violations.
A political liability
The war with Iran has also proven to be a political liability for Trump, whose Republican Party faces stiff competition in November’s midterm elections in the US.
A poll from The New York Times, released on Monday morning, found that 64 percent of US adults believed it was the wrong decision to go to war with Iran.
The war has cost the country at least $29bn so far, according to Pentagon officials, with some experts estimating that the price tag could be much higher. (Al Jazeera)