Trump Signals End to War in Iran Hours After Threatening Strikes
It is hard to keep up with what is happening in the war between Iran and the U.S. Shortly after threatening that the U.S. would hit Iran hard, President Donald Trump signaled that the war is almost over. This all happened in the span of less than 12 hours. Here is the latest on the fluid situation in the Middle East.
Trump Threatens Strikes on Iran, Only to Reverse Course
U.S. President Trump announced on Thursday in a post on Truth Social that "The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT." However, it was a few hours later that the president said that the war was over and it was up to Iran to accept a peace agreement.
In the post during the early part of the day, the president said, "At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets." Trump compared the plan to what the U.S. laid on Venezuela earlier in the year.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that the country might not have "the stomach" to see his plan come to fruition. This is when he compared the plan for Iran to what happened in Venezuela, claiming that the mission in South America "worked out great for everybody."
CNN reported this week that while plans for a U.S. seizure of Kharg Island have been in the works for months, the rollout has not been triggered. American officials believe that seizing the critical island and decimating its energy infrastructure could bankrupt Iran. However, this mission would necessitate a significant number of American troops, raising the risk of casualties in a war that is already not popular in the U.S.
While there have been a handful of airstrikes on Kharg Island in recent weeks, the assault has only targeted its defense system. This strategic island handles about 90% of Iran’s crude exports.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signaled on Wednesday that the U.S. is ready to unleash on Iran. When speaking to reporters, Hegseth said, "If we need to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs, and we're very good at it. Nobody better in the world."
Hegseth made these comments the same day that Trump hinted that he was losing patience with Iran. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Iran is taking too long to negotiate a deal, warning that "now they will have to pay the price!!!"
Is the Tide Turning in the War?
Just hours after threatening to take out Iran's defensive systems, Trump said that he was cancelling the planned strikes as the two nations were close to reaching a peace agreement. The president said that the treaty could be signed as early as this weekend, suggesting that the truce would be formalized in Europe by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Despite the White House's insistence that an agreement was imminent, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA that these rumblings from the Trump administration were “merely speculation.” Baghaei said that leaders in Tehran had not decided on the proposed deal.
The Trump administration has not offered many details about the purported treaty. Trump said that the deal was a "little conceptual" at this point, but offered up that Iran had agreed to stop pursuing nuclear capabilities. The president confirmed that the U.S. will stop its blockade once the deal is signed.
In addition to the U.S. and Iran, Trump said that Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt are all part of the negotiation and approval process. A delegation led by the Qataris has been in Tehran this week trying to hammer out the details of the negotiation.
Sources have reported that Iran initially provided a proposed agreement to the team of Qatari mediators earlier in the week. Trump had returned a proposal almost two weeks ago with the goal of getting more clarity on the nuclear issue, a part of the deal that has proven to be a major point of contention.
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding how the latest iteration of a peace proposal will shake out. What is not uncertain is that the U.S. and global markets continue to react favorably any time that there is a signal that the war may be coming to an end. Oil prices dropped sharply, and U.S. stocks soared on the news of the potential treaty.
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