U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his social media account that he has suspended a large-scale military attack on Iran. Trump stated that the attack, planned jointly with Israel and targeting Iran's infrastructure, was halted as a result of mediation by regional countries.
In his post, Trump noted that the U.S. was prepared to attack with a power unseen since World War II, but that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had reached an agreement on the outlines of a deal and demanded that no new attack be carried out.
Emphasizing that the agreement is based on the conditions of fully opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending Iran's nuclear threat, Trump said that Israel is also on the same page with him on this point.
According to American news site Axios, the persuasion efforts of regional countries under Turkey's leadership, consisting of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, were effective in Trump's change of decision. Notably, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's request that Trump not carry out an attack yielded results.
Citing the request of regional countries, Trump said, "For the benefit of the world and Iran's survival, I agreed to stop the attacks on the condition that an agreement is reached quickly."
Iran, for its part, accused the U.S. of transporting military personnel and ammunition with commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials claimed that radar systems were turned off on these ships to avoid detection.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot also reported that there was movement in the Israeli military, which came after reports that Trump was preparing to give an attack order.
