US President Donald Trump said he had postponed a planned military strike on Iran after Tehran conveyed a peace proposal to Washington and key Gulf allies urged the United States to allow more time for negotiations.
Trump said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and several other countries requested a short delay as they believed negotiations were close to yielding a deal.
"I put it (attack on Iran) off for a little while, hopefully maybe forever, but possibly for a little while because we've had very big discussions with Iran and we'll see what they amount to,” the president said.
He added, “I was asked by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and some others if we could put it off for two or three days, a short period of time, because they think they are getting very close to making a deal.”
Despite the pause, Trump said he had instructed the US military to remain prepared for a full-scale assault on Iran at a moment’s notice if negotiations fail to produce an acceptable agreement.
The US president did not disclose details of the proposed deal but said Washington’s primary objective was to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.
“There seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out. If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I would be very happy,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that Tehran’s position had been communicated to the American side through Pakistan, though he declined to provide further details about the proposal.
According to Reuters, a senior Iranian source said the latest proposal closely resembled an earlier offer that Trump reportedly dismissed last week as “garbage.”
