President Donald Trump said late on Saturday the U.S. would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran as long as a deal could be reached quickly to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump's apparent de-escalation after days of threats of new attacks from each side marked the latest turn in the war the U.S. and Israel launched five months ago © Mena Today
President Donald Trump said late on Saturday the U.S. would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran as long as a deal could be reached quickly to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran and other Middle Eastern countries asked for time to complete a deal that would lead to "the Immediate, Complete and Total" reopening of the vital strait and "an end to Iran's nuclear threat," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He did not name the countries in the post, which followed a call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally.
"Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL," Trump wrote.
Israel "joins me in this commitment," he said. Israel did not immediately respond on Sunday to a request for comment on the U.S. president's posts.
SAUDI PRINCE SEEKS DIALOGUE, IRAN ON HIGH STATE OF READINESS
In his call with Trump, the Saudi crown prince, widely known as MBS, stressed the "necessity of prioritising dialogue to de-escalate tensions" in the Middle East, according to Saudi Arabia's state news agency. A White House official told Reuters that the two had spoken but did not provide details.
Trump's apparent de-escalation after days of threats of new attacks from each side marked the latest turn in the war the U.S. and Israel launched five months ago. Attacks have spread across the Gulf to the Red Sea and even a Mediterranean facility in Egypt.
Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20% of the world's oil and LNG before the war, causing energy prices to stir and stoking broader inflation.
Iran's semi-official Mehr news reported on Sunday that Iranian military officials, whom it did not identify, had dismissed Trump's claim that Tehran had sought to halt attacks as "a new lie" aimed at pressuring Gulf Arab states.
They said Iran's forces remained on the highest level of readiness whether the U.S. escalated or withdrew, warning that if confrontation became unavoidable, the battlefield would determine the outcome.
Tehran had earlier warned the U.S. against any “adventurous action” and said it would retaliate decisively to any fresh attacks on Iranian targets.
PRESSURE ON TRUMP GROWS AS OIL PRICE SURGES
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told senior Turkish and Pakistani officials in phone calls on Saturday that Tehran would respond decisively to any "aggression" and discussed the consequences of “destabilising actions" by the U.S., as well as prospects for heightened regional insecurity, he posted on the Telegram messaging platform.
Hours earlier, Kuwait's army said it had destroyed hostile drones launched by Iran against several vital facilities.
Araqchi said he told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan that any attacks by the U.S. and Israel or participation by regional countries in such actions would be met with a “proportionate response.”
At a cabinet meeting on Friday, Trump said he believed U.S. negotiators, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, could reach a deal with Iran.
As an April ceasefire in the war unravelled last month, benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 24%, and analysts polled by Reuters expect prices to rise further this year.
Trump has argued that his stated goal of keeping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons justifies higher fuel costs in the near term, but the economic pain has put political pressure on him to find a way to end the war.
Adding to the energy industry's concerns, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen in recent days began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, another export route for Saudi crude.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman. In one, an unknown projectile struck a tanker, damaging the engine room. In the other, the master of a tanker reported seeing a large splash and an explosion close to the vessel, though no damage was reported.
By Yasmine Ghania and Menna AlaaElDin
US embassies in Jerusalem, Baghdad and Amman issued security alerts Saturday urging American citizens to exercise "heightened vigilance," as tensions flare between Iran and the United States. Americans were also told to "consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation."
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman, including one in which a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile.
Britain has asked Cyprus to extradite a dual British-Azerbaijani national suspected of spying on a British air base on the Mediterranean island and passing his findings to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, London police said on Friday.
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