Trump on Sunday said he was asked by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Iran to call off a “massive” attack on Iran, saying the allies believed a deal was possible. He spoke to reporters after returning from a weekend golfing trip in New Jersey.
Asked, “What prompted you to call off the strikes last night?”, Trump responded: “I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, and by Qatar and by Iran.”
He added: “We were all set to go just about at this time, right now. And, it would have been a massive attack. We were all set to go, but when the allies ask to call it off, you've got to sort of say, 'well, let's see.' And the reason they ask is they think there's a deal.”
Deal on Hormuz and denuclearization
Trump said: “There's a deal on Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear - or, you might call it the denuclearization of Iran.”
When a reporter asked what happens now, he replied: “Well, now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation.” He added: “It begins tomorrow afternoon. It would save a lot of lives.”
Mixed reactions online and Gulf lobbying
Social media users had their own views. One user wrote: “Would be wise to just let the Arab allies take over the responsibility entirely for their security. They could also reimburse the U.S. for all of the military costs incurred to date, and the U.S. can extricate itself from this morass.” Another remarked: “You would think by now, everyone is on the same page and all the concerns... which are extremely obvious and direct would be settled before any action. This just seems amateurish. This entire war.”
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing senior Gulf officials, the UAE lobbied for “more decisive action.” The officials contend that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will not alter its position unless the US escalates matters, with suggestions including Washington seizing control of the Strait of Hormuz and potentially launching a ground invasion. The UAE has also deployed Israeli air defence personnel within its territory and carried out its own strikes against Iran.
Saturday announcement and Iranian denial
On Saturday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the strike had been called off following appeals from Tehran and other Middle Eastern nations, who requested additional time to finalise a peace framework. He claimed the parties had established the “perimeters” of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
An Iranian source quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency dismissed the claim as a “lie,” stating that Iran had rejected the request and that no agreement regarding the waterway had been reached.
