U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that he has called off a wave of scheduled military strikes against Iran, a dramatic reversal that comes just hours after he threatened to hit the Islamic Republic "very hard" and seize its vital oil assets.
Taking to his Truth Social platform, President Trump credited sudden diplomatic progress with top Iranian authorities for halting the operation. "Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have... cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening," he wrote.
According to Trump, the foundational concepts and final details of an upcoming transaction have been approved by a broad coalition of stakeholders, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt. While he hinted that the time and place for an official signing would be announced soon, he clarified that a strict U.S. naval blockade will remain in full force until the deal is officially finalized.
The abrupt cancellation followed a highly volatile Thursday morning, during which the U.S. and Iran traded severe cross-border strikes, pushing the region closer to full-scale war. Earlier in the day, Trump had threatened to seize total control of Iran's primary oil export hub on Kharg Island to dominate regional energy markets.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, domestic political friction compounded the global crisis. A critical foreign intelligence-gathering program faces an imminent lapse after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to temporarily extend the initiative on Thursday. Lawmakers blocked the extension in protest of Trump's persistent refusal to appoint a permanent chief to lead the nation's intelligence agencies.
