In a sudden shift that has eased immediate fears of a major regional escalation, former President Donald Trump revealed Saturday that the United States and Israel have agreed to hold off on planned new strikes against Iran, on the condition that a diplomatic deal to end five months of open conflict is reached quickly.
The announcement comes amid widespread international anxiety that fighting would reignite on a large scale, after Trump previously threatened to hit Iran “very hard” and U.S. officials were reportedly weighing targeted attacks on key Iranian energy infrastructure. Just days prior, U.S. embassies across the Middle East issued urgent alerts to American citizens, warning of “unforeseen escalation” and urging them to prepare for immediate evacuation. Multiple U.S. outlets including CBS News had reported that joint U.S.-Israel strikes were scheduled as early as this weekend, with oil refineries and power plants identified as potential targets.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump confirmed that U.S. military forces remained “locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but explained that the decision to pause strikes came in response to direct requests from Tehran and multiple other regional governments.
“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 wrote. He outlined two non-negotiable terms for any final agreement: the “Immediate, Complete and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” and a permanent end to what the U.S. describes as Iran’s nuclear threat. “The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE,” he added.
The current conflict, which opened on February 28 when U.S. and Israeli forces launched the first wave of strikes against Iran, has dragged on for more than five months with no clear path to resolution. A previous ceasefire agreement, which included identical provisions to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, collapsed after only a short period. In the weeks since hostilities resumed, Iran has tightened its grip on the waterway, requiring all passing vessels to obtain official permission and pay transit fees to access the route, which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil supplies. Data from maritime trade analytics firm Kpler released Friday confirmed that traffic through the strait has dropped “sharply” amid the ongoing tensions. The collapse of the first ceasefire and resumption of attacks has already pushed global oil prices back upward, reversing the dip recorded during the brief ceasefire period.
Regional pressure played a central role in Trump’s last-minute decision to call off strikes. According to reporting from Axios, which cited anonymous U.S. officials, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held a phone call with Trump Saturday specifically to voice opposition to the planned strikes, urging the U.S. president to prioritize de-escalation. The White House has not yet issued any official comment confirming or denying the contents of that call.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a cautiously optimistic tone in comments earlier this week to Fox News, arguing that months of U.S. military action had “wiped out” much of Iran’s defensive capabilities, leaving Tehran more open to negotiation. “Tehran was now willing and in some cases seem eager to do a deal on denuclearization, to do a deal on the straits,” Rubio said, though he warned that Iran retained the capacity to “still do damage” to regional and international interests.
Recent weeks have seen a series of unsettling attacks linked to the broader regional tensions that have raised alarms globally. On Wednesday, an unmanned drone hit a U.S.-owned gas tanker anchored in an Egyptian port, sparking a large fire; Egyptian authorities have launched an investigation but have not yet attributed responsibility for the strike. Separately, a British maritime agency reported Saturday that an “unknown projectile” struck another commercial tanker off the coast of Oman. In a separate development Saturday, Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen denied reports that they planned to impose transit fees on vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key alternative route for Saudi oil exports that connects the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The decision to pause strikes comes just three months ahead of U.S. midterm elections, where control of Congress is at stake and the conflict is expected to be a core campaign issue for both major parties, posing a potential political challenge to Trump’s Republican Party.