President Trump said on Saturday night that he decided to hold off on launching major strikes on Iran that he said would have inflicted “military terror” on the country, which came after media reports said he was ready to significantly escalate the war.
“The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II. Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat. 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,” he added.
So far, there have been no comments from high-level Iranian officials, but anonymous sources speaking to Iranian media denied Trump’s claim that Tehran had requested that the US hold off or that a deal had been reached to open the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has reached no agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and the reports published in this regard are false,” an Iranian military source told Iran’s Fars news agency. “As long as the hostile actions and acts of malice by the United States continue, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.”
While Trump held off on escalating the war, US Central Command continues to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports. The Iranian military source said that transit through the Strait of Hormuz “will only be possible through the designated route, in coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy and after obtaining permission to transit the Strait of Hormuz.”
Multiple times throughout the war, President Trump has threatened major escalations that would involve massive strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure, but then backed down and claimed some sort of deal had been reached, only for Iranian officials to deny his claims.
