President Donald Trump said that he had planned to launch military strikes on Iran on Tuesday, though decided against the move following appeals from several Gulf Arab leaders, who urged Trump to give negotiations more time.
The comments on Monday came amid rising expectations inside the White House that the US would be taking direct military action following its review of Iranian proposals, which administration officials have dubbed as heavily insufficient.
According to two US officials cited by Axios, Trump was expected to convene his top national security advisors in the Situation Room on Tuesday to review military options.
As per a senior US official, unless there was a change in Iran’s hardline stance, Washington may be forced to continue its negotiations “through bombs”.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the President of the UAE had personally urged him to hold off on his planned attack.
“I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the President of the United Arab Emirates to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social.
He added that the Gulf leaders believed “serious negotiations are now taking place” and argued that a deal could still be reached that would mutually benefit both “United States and regional allies,” claiming that any agreement would ensure Iran could not obtain nuclear weapons.
For weeks now, the president has reiterated claims of diplomatic progress, constantly making statements that the war was nearly over, and that a deal was close at hand, though no major breakthrough has emerged publicly ever since the start of the war.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Trump had spoken directly with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE within the previous 24 hours, with one US official noting “a unified message from Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh. It was along the lines of ‘give negotiations a chance because if you hit Iran, we will all pay the price for it.”
Another source said Trump privately told some of his political allies that the Arab leaders feared Iranian retaliation against oil and gas facilities across the region.
Trump later told reporters the Gulf leaders had asked him to pause military action “for two or three days”. He also said Israel had been informed in advance about the decision, with Trump stressing that military plans remain active.
He said he had instructed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine to suspend the operation temporarily while remaining ready to launch “a full, large scale assault” against Iran “on a moment’s notice” if negotiations fail.
