President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has canceled planned U.S. military strikes against Iran, pointing to what he described as significant progress in negotiations involving Tehran and a broad coalition of regional stakeholders.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said discussions with Iran had reached the highest levels of the country's leadership and received approval from all major parties involved.
“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, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump wrote.
The announcement marked a dramatic shift from the president’s earlier rhetoric. Just hours before, Trump had threatened a third round of strikes against Iran after military exchanges earlier this week pushed the two countries closer to a broader conflict.
Trump also said that negotiations had advanced substantially, adding that “final points” had been approved by numerous countries, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt.
Despite canceling the planned strikes, Trump made clear that a U.S. naval blockade imposed in April would remain in effect until a final agreement is completed. He said the blockade would stay in place “until this Transaction is finalized,” adding that details regarding a formal signing ceremony would be announced “shortly.”
The decision follows several days of escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. Earlier Thursday, Trump warned that the United States would conduct additional airstrikes against Iran and suggested the possibility of seizing Kharg Island, a strategically important location where approximately 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports are stored.
“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post before later announcing the cancellation.
Military confrontations continued this week after an Iranian drone downed a U.S. Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz. According to reports, the helicopter crew was rescued with assistance from an uncrewed Navy drone boat and is in stable condition.
The U.S. Central Command reported that forces enforcing the naval blockade have disabled nine noncompliant vessels, redirected 135 ships that attempted to breach the blockade, and allowed 42 humanitarian aid vessels to pass.
Iranian officials had also issued warnings against further U.S. military action. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, speaker of the Iranian Parliament and the country's chief negotiator, cautioned that American escalation could have far-reaching consequences.
“Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions” by the United States would “reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years,” Qalibaf wrote on X, adding, “You will see a different Iran.”
While Trump reiterated that seizing Kharg Island remained his preferred military option, he acknowledged potential domestic resistance to such an operation. Speaking on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” the president said, “Look, my preference has always been: Take Kharg Island,” before adding, “I don’t know that America has the stomach for that.”
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