US President Donald Trump said late on Saturday he 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 a time to complete a deal that would lead to "the Immediate, Complete and Total" reopening of the Strait and "an end to Iran's nuclear threat," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"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."
Israel "joins me in this commitment," Trump wrote. Israel did not immediately make a public statement on the issue.
At a cabinet meeting on Friday at the Camp David retreat, Trump said he believed US negotiators, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, could still reach a deal with Iran.
But Trump also said he was losing faith in the Iranians, saying, "They break their word so often" — a claim Tehran has frequently leveled at Washington — and said he would be "hitting them."
STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Oil prices have stayed high since US and Israeli forces started the war with strikes on Iran on February 28. Trump has argued that his stated goal of keeping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons justifies higher fuel costs in the near term, but the economic pain has put political pressure on him to find a way to end the war.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 24 per cent in July, and analysts polled by Reuters expect prices to rise further this year.
The risk of Iranian attacks has deterred most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, an important conduit for global energy supplies, since the start of the conflict, sending shockwaves through the world economy.
A government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company on Bubiyan Island were hit on Saturday, with falling shrapnel causing material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti army said.
Adding to the energy industry's concerns, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen recently began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, another export route for Saudi crude.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman, including one in which a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile that damaged the engine room.
In the other incident, the master of a tanker reported seeing a large splash and an explosion close to the vessel, though no damage was reported.
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