The US President, Donald Trump, says he is holding off a military attack on Iran that was planned for Tuesday after appeals by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
He said the leaders of these Gulf countries asked him to pause the planned attack and allow for “serious negotiation.”
Mr Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he had been informed that a deal that is “very acceptable” to the US would be reached, and that there would be “NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!”
“Based on my respect for the above-mentioned Leaders, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack on Iran tomorrow,” he said.
He, however, warned that the US military would be prepared to “go forward with a full, large-scale assault of Iran on a moment’s notice” if talks failed to produce a deal.
Mr Trump’s comments came after Iran said it had submitted a response to the latest US proposal through Pakistan, which has been mediating between the two countries.
The fragile truce has been increasingly strained as negotiations drag on and both countries exchange proposals without reaching an agreement.
Mr Trump, on Sunday, had warned that “for Iran, Clock is Ticking” and that he was losing his patience.
“They’d better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them”.
He had previously also said the truce was on “massive life support” after rejecting demands laid out by Tehran to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s reported 14-point proposal called for an immediate ceasefire across all fronts, the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and assurances that no further attacks would be launched against Iran.
The proposal also demanded compensation for damages caused by the conflict and reaffirmed Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
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Mr Trump labelled the demands a “piece of garbage.”
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it – TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” he wrote on Truth Social.
An attack by either the US, Iran, or Israel will shatter the month-long ceasefire and could lead to a continuation of the Middle East war, which began on 28 February after the US and Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran.
The war has led to the deaths of 3,468 people and injured about 26,500 others in the region.
