US President Donald Trump has reversed course and called off major US strikes on Iran that he had announced just hours before for Thursday evening.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said since discussions with Iran "have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved," he has cancelled the planned strikes and bombings for Thursday evening.
There was no immediate reaction from high-ranking Iranian officials.
Just hours earlier, Trump had announced major strikes on Iran for Thursday night. Writing on Truth Social, he said the US would hit Iran "very hard."
He also threatened to take over Kharg Island, which is important for Iran's oil industry, as well as other oil infrastructure sites in the not too distant future.
Almost all the Islamic Republic's oil exports are handled there, making it of great strategic importance.
But Trump wrote that "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."
The US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will remain in place, Trump wrote, until the deal is finalized which he said would "be announced shortly."
Talks going on for weeks
For weeks there have been efforts to reach a framework agreement to end the war, but there had been no indications of a significant rapprochement on the main points of conflict between the US and Iran.
Renewed heavy exchanges of fire
The US and Iran again heavily shelled each other overnight. There had already been mutual attacks on the night leading into Wednesday. A pause in fighting has actually been in place between the warring parties for two months.
Iranian media reported that three people were injured in attacks in Tehran province. The Mehr portal reported at the same time, citing official sources, that in the early hours a boat loaded with basic foodstuffs was hit by a US projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. The crew was rescued.
The US military spoke of attacks on military surveillance and communications facilities and air defence sites in Iran.
Iran attacked the Gulf states of Bahrain and Kuwait overnight. According to local authorities, an 11-year-old girl was injured in Bahrain. In the capital Manama and in the town of Hammad, several vehicles caught fire and residential buildings were damaged by falling debris after Iranian drone attacks were intercepted.
Jordan also said it intercepted 20 rockets fired from Iran overnight. In the east of the country, the US military has stationed, among other things, fighter jets at a base.
