Trump: “No Nuclear Weapons for Iran”; Hegseth + Caine Stand Ready
President Donald Trump’s Truth Social cancellation of last night’s scheduled US military strike against Iran — at the joint request of the Qatari Emir, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed — included a sharply more substantive sentence than the headline cancellation, the Jerusalem Post reported: “This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!” Trump instructed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Daniel Caine and the US military to remain prepared for a “full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached”.
Trump’s framing — “Serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America” — passes responsibility for the breakdown, if there is one, onto Iran rather than onto the Gulf intermediaries or the negotiating team. The Trump “NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN” line is the most explicit US red-line statement of the post-ceasefire period and is materially incompatible with Iran’s public position that any deal requires recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions, end of the US blockade, war reparations and a halt to Israeli operations in Lebanon. The Institute for the Study of War continues to assess the two sides’ positions as “fundamentally incompatible”.