KABUL (Pajhwok): US President Donald Trump said late Saturday that he would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran if a deal could be reached quickly to address Tehran’s nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had requested more time to reach an agreement that would lead to the “immediate, complete and total” reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to what he called Iran’s nuclear threat, Reuters reported.
“Based on this request, I have agreed … to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump also said Israel had joined him in the commitment. Israel had not immediately issued a public statement on the matter.
Iran, meanwhile, warned the US against any “adventurous action” and said it would respond decisively if American forces carried out fresh attacks on Iranian targets.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made the remarks during separate phone calls on Saturday with senior officials from Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, according to his Telegram account.
Araqchi told Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that Iran would respond decisively to any “aggression.”
He also discussed what he described as the consequences of destabilising US actions and the possibility of increased insecurity in the region.
Araqchi later told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan that any attacks by the US or Israel, or participation by regional countries in such actions, would be met with a “proportionate response.”
The developments came hours after Kuwait’s army said it had destroyed hostile drones launched by Iran towards several vital facilities.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump on Saturday and expressed concern while seeking clarification about US plans concerning Iran, a US official told Axios.
A White House official confirmed to Reuters that the Saudi crown prince had spoken with Trump but did not provide details of the conversation.
Nournews, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s top security body, warned that any US attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian strikes on oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as gas fields in Qatar and Israel.
At a cabinet meeting on Friday at Camp David, Trump said he believed US negotiators, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, could still reach an agreement with Iran.
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