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United States President, Donald Trump, has decided to hold off on attacking Iran again at the request of leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump disclosed this in a post on his Truth Social media account on Monday.
According to him, the strike was scheduled for Tuesday, but he was asked to hold off because serious negotiations are now taking place between the US and countries in the Middle East, and beyond.
The US leader noted that the request came from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” Trump said, adding that he instructed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, along with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, and others to hold off on the attack.
“But have 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,” he said.
This is coming less than 24 hours after Trump warned that the “clock is ticking” for a deal to be made between the US and Iran, but so far, negotiations have been at a standstill for weeks since a ceasefire was implemented.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards threatened Saturday to target US sites if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington continued to wait for Tehran’s response to its latest negotiating position.
“Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships,” it said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
US President Donald Trump had said on Friday he was expecting Iran’s answer to Washington’s latest proposal for a peace deal “supposedly tonight”.
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But if Tehran sent Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his Turkish counterpart.
“The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy,” he said, according to an Iranian account of the call published by the ISNA news agency.
On Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran’s ports. An Iranian military official told local media the navy had responded with strikes.
That incident followed another flare-up the night before in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control in order to extract tolls and wield economic leverage over the United States and its allies.
The US says it is unacceptable for Tehran to control the key oil route.
Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict, launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran’s answer “very soon”.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said Friday the proposal was still “under review”.
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Friday and discussed the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.
Iran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate’s role as host of a major US air base.
Meanwhile, satellite images have shown an apparent oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill, which was off the island’s west coast and appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometres), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.
