Trump says he's called off major attack on Iran that was to take place on Tuesday - National & International News -

Trump says he’s called off major attack on Iran that was to take place on Tuesday

President Trump claimed today that he had called off a major US military attack on Iran that was to take place tomorrow. He said he had called off the attack at the urging of Gulf allies and in light of “very big discussions” with Tehran. Trump stated that there was a “very good chance” of reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. However, just last week Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had “no trust” in the US and suggested that the US negotiating position was not serious.

While the US, Iran and Israel are nominally in a ceasefire, there have been attacks throughout by all sides. The US and Iran have both fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the US has fired on Iranian soil. Israel has also continued carrying out attacks in Lebanon despite a truce. Israel has already killed more than 3000 people and in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million since the beginning of March.

Trump said that representatives from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other countries he did not name had asked to hold off on attacks due to “optimism” over a workable settlement. He also seemed to imply that in the Gulf partners were happy with a deal that this would also satisfy him. “There seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out. If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I’d be very happy,” Trump told CNN.

Since the ceasefire began, Trump has on several occasions threatened Iran but in practice has seemed reluctant to return to full-scale hostilities that would prolong the conflict. Competing Iranian and US blockades in the Strait of Hormuz have halted shipments of oil and other key commodities such as fertilizer. Even if regular traffic were to resume tomorrow, the months-long disruption is likely to have knock-on effects well into the future. These disruptions have also driven up prices, although Trump says he does not consider American’s financial pain “even a little bit” in negotiations with Iran.