Trump Postpones Planned Iran Strike for 2-3 Days After Gulf Leaders Intervene
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has called off a planned military strike on Iran that was scheduled for Tuesday, after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE personally asked him to hold off and give negotiations more time.
Trump confirmed the decision himself, telling reporters: “We were getting ready to do a very major attack tomorrow. I’ve put it off for a little while, hopefully maybe forever, but possibly for a little while, because we’ve had very big discussions with Iran.”
According to Axios, the three Gulf leaders delivered a unified message to Washington in the 24 hours before Trump’s announcement essentially telling him that if Iran retaliates, their energy infrastructure would be in the line of fire too. One U.S. official described it as: give diplomacy a chance, or everyone in the region pays the price.
Trump posted the decision on Truth Social, naming Qatar’s Emir, Saudi Crown Prince MBS, and UAE President MBZ as the ones who made the request. He made clear that the Pentagon is still on standby for a full-scale assault if talks collapse, and that any deal must include a firm commitment from Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Iran, for its part, submitted a new proposal through Pakistan which has been serving as a key mediator but U.S. officials described it as falling short of what Washington is demanding.
Worth noting: this is not the first time Trump has paused a planned strike on Iran. According to Axios, he has extended deadlines or postponed military action at least half a dozen times since the conflict began.
Sources: Axios, CNBC, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, Iran International