Trump Calls Off Iran Strike but Tehran Denies a Deal
President Trump said he had called off the planned bombing of Iran’s energy sites, claiming he had been assured a deal was “imminent” that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme. But Iran flatly denied any agreement, with negotiators calling the reports “false” and insisting the strait remained closed to shipping that did not coordinate with the Revolutionary Guard. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had urged Mr Trump to choose talks over strikes.
The abrupt turn, after a weekend in which Washington had seemed poised to strike, offered the first real hint of an off-ramp in a war now in its fifth month — if it proves real. Mr Trump’s account, of a US and Qatari-brokered plan dividing oversight of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, went unconfirmed by Tehran, which has repeatedly rejected sharing control of the waterway. Riyadh, fearing Iranian retaliation against Gulf oil facilities, had pressed hard for restraint. With the two sides offering flatly contradictory accounts, the ceasefire Mr Trump proclaimed looked far from settled. Watch whether the strait reopens or the strikes resume.