Washington: United States’ President Donald Trump has said he will order American forces to hold off on new strikes against Iran, claiming Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the five-month-old war.
The emerging deal “would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote on social media post.
“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” Trump said.
Trump has announced halts to strikes in Iran on several occasions since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, only for things to unravel and fighting to resume again.
Iran’s defence minister said on X that the country was “neither surprised nor passive” following Trump’s announcement and said Iran continues to remain alert in the face of concrete threats from the US.
A regional official said the proposal announced by Trump over the weekend calls for the US and Iran to return to negotiations and continue working out many of the issues that have stymied prior progress on the deal.
The official, who is involved in the mediation efforts, said the proposal calls for reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.
The US, in exchange, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil as stated in the tentative ceasefire deal, he said. No deal has been reached yet, but mediation efforts are under way, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Trump said that Israel is joining his commitment to end the war by implementing the ceasefire deal. Israel did not publicly comment on the announcement.
