U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was “an hour away” from ordering a fresh military strike on Iran before pausing the operation after Gulf allies urged more time for diplomacy. The comments came a day after he announced he was holding off a planned attack scheduled for Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at the White House during a tour of the ballroom construction site, Trump said U.S. naval vessels had already been armed and positioned for action. “I was an hour away. We were all set to go… it would have been happening right now,” he said. He added that the operation was called off after leaders from Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia called to say Tehran was being “reasonable” in ongoing peace talks.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday that he had delayed the planned military attack at the request of the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and the President of the UAE. The Gulf leaders told him “serious negotiations are now taking place” and expressed confidence that “a Deal will be made” that includes “NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!”.
The president said he instructed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Daniel Caine, and the U.S. military not to proceed with the strike but to remain on standby. “I have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached,” Trump wrote.
The planned strike came amid stalled negotiations to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, which began with strikes in late February. A fragile ceasefire agreed in April has held only partially, with both sides holding just one round of talks in Pakistan since then. Iran recently sent a revised 14-point proposal through Pakistan, but U.S. officials described it as insufficient.
Trump said he is giving Iran “a limited period of time” to reach a deal, suggesting “two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week”. He warned that if talks fail, the U.S. could launch “another big hit…See More
