President Donald Trump said the United States had scheduled military strikes against Iran for Tuesday but that he called them off because "serious negotiations" to end the war are under way.
Writing on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump said leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had urged him not to proceed with the attack, and that he agreed to their request.
"Based on my respect for the above mentioned leaders," Trump wrote, he had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that "we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow."
However, he warned that he had also instructed the military to be "prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable deal is not reached."
"This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!" he wrote.
On February 28, the US and Israel began large-scale attacks against Iran. Tehran responded with counter-attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab states allied with Washington.
A ceasefire, most recently extended unilaterally by Trump, has been in place since early April. However, recurring military skirmishes have threatened to derail it, with no sign of progress towards reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas shipping.
A lack of progress in diplomatic efforts has also fuelled growing frustration in Washington and expectations that major combat operations could soon resume.
A 14-point memo drafted weeks ago by the Trump administration outlining parameters for ending the war has been rebuffed by Tehran. Last week, Trump warned the ceasefire was on “massive life support," and on Sunday he said the "clock is ticking" for Iran.
In his post, Trump did not provide additional details about the discussions he says are taking place.
