CAIRO: US President Donald Trump said late on Saturday (Aug 1) that the US would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran as long as a deal could be reached quickly to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and other Middle Eastern countries asked for time to complete a deal that would lead to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the vital strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 

He did not name the countries in the post, which followed a call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a US ally.

“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 wrote.

Israel “joins me in this commitment”, Trump wrote. Israel did not immediately respond on Sunday to a request for comment on the US president’s posts.

SAUDI PRINCE SEEKS DIALOGUE, IRAN ON HIGH STATE OF READINESS

In his call with Trump, the Saudi crown prince, widely known as MBS, stressed the “necessity of prioritising dialogue to de-escalate tensions” in the Middle East, according to Saudi Arabia’s state news agency. A White House official told Reuters that the two had spoken but did not provide details.

Trump’s apparent de-escalation after days of threats of new attacks from each side marked the latest turn in the war the US and Israel launched five months ago. Attacks have spread across the Gulf to the Red Sea and even a Mediterranean facility in Egypt.

Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20 per cent of the world’s oil and LNG before the war, causing energy prices to stir and stoking broader inflation.

Iran’s semi-official Mehr news reported on Sunday that Iranian military officials, whom it did not identify, had dismissed Trump’s claim that Tehran had sought to halt attacks as “a new lie” aimed at pressuring Gulf Arab states.

They said Iran’s forces remained on the highest level of readiness whether the US escalated or withdrew, warning that if confrontation became unavoidable, the battlefield would determine the outcome.

Tehran had earlier warned the US against any “adventurous action” and said it would retaliate decisively if American forces followed through on Trump’s threats of fresh attacks on Iranian targets.