Trump Calls Off an Attack on Iran He Says Would Have Been the Biggest Since World War II
The president said Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates asked him to hold off, and that talks aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz would begin Monday. Iran's foreign ministry says no direct talks with Washington are scheduled.
President Donald Trump called off a planned military attack on Iran on Saturday night, saying on Truth Social that he had "just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack" and that he would cancel it "subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL."
The strike package the United States and Israel had assembled targeted Iranian energy infrastructure, including power plants and refineries, and would have been among the harshest bombing campaigns of the five-month war. Trump described the operation he shelved in stark terms, saying it would have been the biggest attack since World War II and that American forces remained locked and loaded while negotiators worked.
Trump said the framework that persuaded him to stand down would include "the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran's nuclear threat." He said negotiations would begin Monday afternoon. Iran's foreign ministry pushed back within hours, saying no direct U.S.-Iran talks were scheduled and that the only discussions underway involved Oman and concerned passage through the strait.
The pressure to stand down came from Washington's Gulf partners rather than from Tehran alone. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump on Saturday and urged him to prioritize dialogue in order to reduce escalation, according to Saudi state media. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates delivered similar messages. Trump confirmed the substance of the Saudi call, saying the crown prince told him he would prefer a deal with Iran. All three countries sit within range of Iranian missiles and have already absorbed retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases on their territory during the conflict.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the central economic stake. The waterway normally carries roughly 20 percent of the world's seaborne oil, and it has been effectively closed since February 28. Iran said transit through the strait "is not possible" because of U.S. military activity in the area, an assertion that leaves the two sides describing the same blockage in incompatible terms even as they discuss reopening it.
The war has cost the United States 18 service members killed, and more than 50,000 American troops are now deployed across the Middle East. Israeli operations against Iranian targets have continued through the pause, and mediators have offered accounts of the negotiating state of play that differ from the president's. Trump has declared and then abandoned pauses in this conflict before, including a ceasefire he pronounced over in early July before ordering strikes on roughly 90 targets. Whether Monday produces a negotiating table or another round of bombing was, by Sunday night, still an open question in both capitals.
Originally reported by CBS News.