President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that he has canceled a planned large-scale military strike against Iran after what he described as the agreed-upon “perimeters of a deal,” pausing what he said would have been the most powerful American military action since World War II.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the United States remains fully prepared to launch military action if negotiations fail, but agreed to suspend the operation after receiving requests from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to give diplomacy another opportunity.
“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump wrote. “Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”
According to Trump, the proposed agreement includes two major provisions: the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to what he described as Iran’s nuclear threat.
“This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote.
The president said he agreed to cancel the military operation because of the potential benefits for both global stability and Iran’s future, while emphasizing that any pause in military action depends on reaching a final agreement quickly.
“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 stated.
Trump also said Israel was joining him in supporting the effort to finalize an agreement.
“The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE,” he wrote before signing the message, “President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Despite announcing the pause, Trump made clear that the United States remains ready to respond militarily if negotiations collapse, saying the country is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”
The announcement marked a dramatic shift from the president’s comments just one day earlier, when he indicated the United States was preparing to intensify its military campaign against Iran.
Speaking during a televised press conference Friday at Camp David, Trump said the United States planned to escalate its strikes.
“We will be hitting them very hard,” Trump said. “And you know at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”
Earlier in the week, Trump also told Fox News that the United States was going to “beat the fcking sht” out of Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump had privately expressed frustration with the diplomatic process for weeks. According to the newspaper, U.S. officials said Trump had been telling aides behind closed doors that the Iranians were “crazy.” The report also said Trump complained to confidants that the interim peace agreement had become meaningless and that he believed from the outset it ultimately would not succeed.
Saturday’s announcement follows the 60-day ceasefire agreement reached between the United States and Iran in mid-June. According to the article, that ceasefire later collapsed after Iran struck a Cyprus-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz last month. The incident was followed by nearly two consecutive weeks of retaliatory U.S. strikes before Trump announced the latest framework for a possible agreement.
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