After Tehran’s quit order for US, other military bases to leave Middle East immediately, Trump cancels Thursday’s planned strikes on Iran
Earlier, Trump had said the U.S. would at some point seize Kharg Island and take “total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industry.
United States of America’s President Donald Trump says he has canceled strikes on Iran planned for Thursday’s night, saying a deal with Iran is expected to soon be “finalized.”
Iran did not however confirm that a deal had been reached.
The cancelation of US planned attacks was after Tehran had ordered that all United States and other foreign military forces should leave the entire Middle East with immediate effect.
The apparent easing of tensions follows a second day of strikes between the two countries after the downing of a U.S. military helicopter. The U.S. launched strikes and Tehran retaliated against American targets across the Middle East causing damages of greater impacts to the US military bases including facilities hosting its F-35 jets in particularly Jordan.
Earlier, Trump had said the U.S. would at some point seize Kharg Island and take “total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industry.
Iran’s military announced that the Strait of Hormuz, the key trade route it has largely blocked through the war, is now closed to all marine traffic in response, exposing the untruth in the by U.S. Central Command that said the key waterway was now open.
Three Indian nationals were killed after the U.S. military fired at a Palau-flagged tanker off the coast of Oman, India’s minister of ports, shipping and waterways said.
In the meantime, President Donald Trump held a call Thursday with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to discuss strategic relations and the situation in the Middle East, the Qatari government said in a statement.
According to the Qatari statement, Trump said he confirmed that understandings reached with Iran “have received the approval of all concerned parties, with the participation and support of several brotherly and friendly nations—including the State of Qatar—while efforts continue to finalize the remaining procedures ahead of announcing the arrangements for signing the agreement.”
The Qatari emir expressed the nation’s “welcome of efforts aimed at resolving disputes through dialogue and peaceful means,” the statement said.
The statement also said, “His Highness also thanked the U.S. President for his efforts in supporting the path toward calm and de-escalation.”
U.S. military says was approximately 3 hours from strikes in Iran when Trump canceled them
The U.S. military was about three hours from launching missiles inside of Iran on Thursday when President Trump announced on social media that a deal had been reached, according to two U.S. officials.
The military was ready, having already received orders from the president to carry out the strikes Thursday evening, the officials said. They said U.S. Navy ships had adjusted their air operations plan for the day and readied munitions for strikes, the officials said.
The officials said that Kharg Island was not on the target list, despite Trump threatening military action there.
The U.S. military has had plans for striking Kharg Island — and even to invade it — for the past several months, but those plans were part of typical planning for all options and were not approved by the president, the officials said.
The U.S. military previously struck Kharg Island during major combat operations. Trump’s Truth Social post Thursday morning said the U.S. would be hitting Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” and in the near future the U.S. would be “taking Kharg Island” and other oil infrastructure.
That post did not align “with any of the planning or action” the military was preparing to take on Thursday, one of the officials said.
The military had options ready, but military officials did not start planning the specific strikes that were readied for Thursday night until after Trump posted on social media Thursday morning, the two US officials said. At that time, they said, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made clear to military officials that he wanted strikes in Iran to be different from options that were briefed to him over the past few weeks.
The U.S. officials said the strikes planned for Thursday night were very similar to the ones the U.S. military conducted Wednesday night.
The military was even more surprised by the president’s post canceling the strikes than they were by his comments about big strikes coming Thursday night and taking Kharg Island, the officials said.
Hegseth and Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine traveled to the White House Thursday to discuss options for Iran with Trump, according to two other U.S. officials. Trump posted about canceling strikes soon after their meeting ended, the officials said.
