U.S. President Donald Trump called off plans for renewed military strikes on Iran at the last minute on Thursday, and flagged the signing of a possible deal with Tehran after high-level talks.
Trump’s latest sudden reversal on the war came after what he said were the agreements of “final points” by numerous countries, except Iran.
“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have… cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others,” he added.
“Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” said Trump, adding that a U.S. naval blockade of Iran would remain in place until then.
There was no immediate reaction from Iran. Trump has repeatedly claimed that a deal with Tehran was imminent, only to have its government deny the suggestions.
Earlier in the day, Trump had said the U.S. would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and even added that he wanted at some point to take Iran’s oil infrastructure hub Kharg Island, after a second day of strikes by both sides in the Gulf appeared to threaten a return to all-out war.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela,” he said on social media.
Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran’s oil export industry, a lynchpin of the country’s battered economy. It sits off Iran’s Gulf coast, hundreds of kilometers northwest of the narrow, strategic Strait of Hormuz.
‘Crazy’
A fragile cease-fire has been in place since early April. Iranian sources and Western officials earlier said indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on a preliminary peace deal had intensified, while the renewed hostilities this week undermined prospects for a swift end to the conflict.
Oil prices fell sharply after Trump said he had canceled the U.S. plans to strike Iran, while stocks extended their gains.
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had warned against any rash moves following Trump’s initial threats.
“Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years. You will see a different Iran,” he wrote on the social media platform X.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to redouble their efforts “towards a peaceful, comprehensive, and durable agreement that advances regional and international peace and security,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Trump gave no details of how the United States would seize Iran’s oil terminals, but any such operation would almost certainly require the involvement of U.S. ground troops.
But the U.S. leader himself appeared divided on whether to go ahead with the move, in a telephone interview with Fox News shortly after his social media post.
“Look, my preference has always been take Kharg Island,” Trump said, before adding: “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest.”
Trump insisted that “I don’t want to have boots on the ground” but said that “if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place.”
He also said he preferred not to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, after previously threatening to strike power plants and bridges.
“I’d rather not do it, because once you do that, the people suffer,” Trump said.
Trump also vented his increasing frustration with Iran for failing to agree a deal to end the war, open the Strait of Hormuz and agree not to develop a nuclear weapon.
“The whole thing is crazy, and they’re really in submission, they just don’t know it yet,” Trump said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, meanwhile, vowed Thursday to use Iranian funds to pay for damage that the country causes to Gulf allies.
