Trump Cancels Strikes, Predicts Peace Deal 'Shortly'

Hours after threatening a major escalation in the Iran war, President Trump said the bombs are back on pause—and that Iran is on board with talks, reports the Wall Street Journal. In a new Truth Social post, Trump said he called off plans to unleash a new wave of strikes and to seize the Kharg Island oil hub because peace negotiations "have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved."

Trump said the "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." Iran has not yet publicly commented. Trump added that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports will stay in place until a deal is signed, with time and place to be announced "shortly," per the BBC. The president has previously announced imminent deals that have fallen through.

The two nations had traded strikes and counter-strikes over two straight days, prompting Trump earlier Thursday to warn that the US would seize Kharg Island, a move military experts say would be risky, troop-heavy, and a major escalation in the three-month-old war.