Trump Announces He’s Canceling Strikes on Iran Again, Claiming Peace Deal Progress

Claiming a new deal is being approved by the highest Iranian authorities, President Trump announced Thursday that he is cancelling scheduled military strikes on Iran.“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Mr. Trump said in an early afternoon Truth Social post, just hours after threatening new strikes. “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others,” Mr. Trump continued.Mr. Trump did not lay out any specifics on what the deal would include. Both sides were previously far apart on an agreement on Iran’s nuclear future and reopening ship passage in the Strait of Hormuz. The president said an American blockade will remain in place against Iran until the deal is finalized. “Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” Mr. Trump said. The president has repeatedly announced both sides were nearing a deal but nothing has materialized.International oil prices fell more than two percent and American stock markets surged higher after Mr. Trump’s post. Iran distanced itself from Mr. Trump’s statement, however. Its state-run Fars News Agency reported “an informed source” said Iran had not approved any draft agreement or initial memorandum.Mr. Trump had announced planned strikes in a Truth Social post hours earlier. “The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Mr. Trump said in the earlier post. He also threatened to take control of Kharg Island and other Iranian oil infrastructure points.America and Iran had carried out limited waves of airstrikes this week after Mr. Trump blamed Iran for downing an Apache helicopter. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, said earlier that further attacks would push America into a quagmire. “Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years,” Mr. Ghalibaf wrote in an X post. “You will see a different Iran.”Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency reported Thursday that Iran had updated its possible targets to include Elon Musk’s Middle East operations. Among the companies under the threat was SpaceX and its Starlink satellite internet service, the latter of which has been used to give limited access to Iran’s populace after the regime turned off all access to the internet. The Pentagon has also used Starlink to help guide drones and guided munitions in attacks. Iran reportedly said that Musk’s companies had helped America commit war crimes.Conversely, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said she had spoken to Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and told him that resumed attacks on its neighboring Gulf countries’ critical infrastructure are unacceptable. “A return to full-scale war would come at a tremendous cost to the entire region,” Ms. Kallas warned in an X post. “The diplomatic route remains the best path out of this war.”Ms. Kallas said she had also been in touch with Kuwait’s foreign minister, Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Some of Iran’s retaliatory strikes have been aimed at targets in Kuwait. Kuwait’s Public Authority of Civil Aviation on Thursday sent a third protest letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization complaining that Iranian attacks on radar at Kuwait’s International Airport could disrupt civilian operations.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Iranian regime would lose in a “zero-sum game” if it pursued ongoing attacks. “Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts,” Mr. Bessent wrote on X, referencing sanctioned assets that Iran has demanded be released. “Any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts. Every attack Iran launches will only deepen the economic and financial consequences it faces,” Mr. Bessent continued.

Trump Announces He’s Canceling Strikes on Iran Again, Claiming Peace Deal Progress

Trump Announces He’s Canceling Strikes on Iran Again, Claiming Peace Deal Progress

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