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Strikes Called Off
President Donald Trump said he canceled a planned attack on Iran after officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran urged the U.S. to give diplomacy another chance, with negotiations scheduled to begin Monday afternoon.
“I was asked by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and by Iran. We were all set to go.”
Speaking aboard Air Force One on a return flight from New Jersey, Trump said, “I was asked by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and by Iran. We were all set to go.”
Trump also framed the stand-down as conditional on a deal, saying the agreement would include “the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
Iran did not confirm it requested the pause, and CNN reported that Iranian state media gave no indication Tehran asked for the attacks to be called off or changed its stance on the waterway.
The CBS News account said Trump told reporters the negotiations with Iran are set to begin Monday after he canceled the pending attack contingent on the two sides “rapidly” making a deal.
Competing Claims
Iranian officials rejected Trump’s account of a request for a pause, with the Guardian reporting that Iran’s Mehr news agency said the claim “was nothing but a new lie” and that Iranian armed forces were “on high alert and ready for any eventuality.”
In the same reporting, Iran’s acting defence minister, Majid Ebn-e-Reza, said Trump had backed down “within the context of psychological operations and a war of calculations,” while insisting, “We will neither be taken by surprise nor will we be passive.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he spoke with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and said the kingdom would prefer diplomacy over military action, adding, “We would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack because you don't know where these attacks lead.”
CNN reported that no strikes were reported from either the Iranian or US side overnight into Sunday, even as it described the Strait of Hormuz as impassable since fighting resumed between the US and Iran on July 8.
The CNBC account said Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go,” while also saying the U.S. agreed to cancel the attack “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
What Comes Next
CBS News said a regional official involved in mediation efforts told the Associated Press that the proposal announced by Trump calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue working out issues that have stymied prior progress on the deal.
“end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil”
That same CBS News account said the official described the proposal as including reopening the Strait of Hormuz and halting attacks across the region, while the U.S. would end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil as stated in the tentative ceasefire deal.
Fox News reported that Trump said the strike would have been the “biggest attack since World War II,” and that he warned it “would have been disastrous for them,” underscoring how close the decision was to reversal.
CNN tied the pause to economic effects, saying oil futures dropped after Trump announced the pause in strikes, with Brent crude falling about 5.6% to about $83 a barrel and US crude falling about 5.5% to about $80 a barrel.
NPR reported that an AP poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans who responded say the war is not worth the fight, while also noting that Trump’s claims were dismissed by Mehr as “simply a new lie.”
