President Trump optimistic about chances for a breakthrough with Iran but adds that the US could strike in two to three days if no progress is made in talks.
By World Israel News Staff
President Donald Trump said Monday that the decision not to launch attacks on Iran starting on Tuesday does not mark an end to the prospect of renewed military operations in the Middle East, emphasizing that the new air campaign has merely been delayed for several days in order to give negotiations one last chance.
Speaking with reporters at the White House, the president revealed that the renewed air campaign, which was planned for Tuesday, has been pushed off by two to three days.
“We were getting ready to do a very major attack tomorrow,” Trump said.
“I’ve put it 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 decision opened a narrow diplomatic window after weeks of escalating threats and faltering efforts to end the confrontation with Tehran. Trump said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and others had asked Washington to delay the strike “for two or three days” because they believed negotiations were advancing.
“If we can do that, where there’s no nuclear weapon going into the hands of Iran, I think, and if they’re satisfied, we will be probably satisfied also,” Trump said.
The president said Israel and other Middle Eastern partners had been informed of the decision. He described the development as “very positive,” but cautioned that earlier moments of optimism had failed to produce an agreement.
“We’ve had periods of time where we thought [we were] pretty much getting close to making a deal, and it didn’t work out, but this is a little bit different,” Trump said.
The strike, he added, would have been “very big and not something I wanted to do, but we have no choice because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump first disclosed the delay in a Truth Social post, saying the United States had been prepared to attack Iran on Tuesday but had been asked by regional leaders to hold off because “serious negotiations” were underway.
In his post, Trump named Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed as leaders who urged him to delay the operation.
He said they believed “a deal will be made” that would be acceptable to the United States and the region.
“This Deal will include, importantly, no nuclear weapons for Iran!” Trump wrote.
The shift came after Trump gave a more hard-line assessment of the talks in an interview with the New York Post, saying Iran knew “what’s going to be happening soon” and that he was “not open to anything” in terms of further concessions.
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