President Donald Trump announced late Saturday that he had canceled what he described as the biggest military attack since World War II against Iran, saying Middle Eastern allies had communicated progress toward a deal that would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz. In a social media post, Trump said he was holding off on the strikes so that negotiations could proceed rapidly.
Trump said the outlines of an agreement had been reached with Iran and other regional nations, with terms that would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane that had been effectively closed since hostilities began. He stated that new talks would begin Monday afternoon. The State Department simultaneously urged all Americans currently in the Middle East to consider departing or to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, citing an elevated security environment across the region.
However, Iran swiftly rejected the president’s characterization. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied that any negotiations were planned for Monday, directly contradicting Trump’s announcement. The denial added to a weekend of diplomatic whiplash that has defined the six-month conflict between Washington and Tehran, with each side offering sharply different accounts of the diplomatic landscape.
The cancellation came just hours after Trump had appeared to be preparing the country for a major military escalation. U.S. forces had been positioned for strikes, and the president had signaled on Truth Social that he remained locked and loaded. The sudden reversal caught both allies and adversaries off guard, with some analysts suggesting it reflected internal divisions within the administration over the best path forward in the grinding conflict.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes daily, has been a central flashpoint in the conflict. Its closure or disruption has driven global oil prices to multi-year highs, with Brent crude having recently surged past $100 a barrel before retreating sharply on the announcement that strikes had been called off. Energy markets rallied on the news, with Dow futures jumping more than 500 points in overnight trading as investors priced in reduced geopolitical risk.
The conflict, now in its sixth month, has seen multiple cycles of escalation and de-escalation that have tested the patience of both domestic and international observers. A previous ceasefire brokered in April lasted less than a month before collapsing in July, when Trump declared it over. The pattern has left both sides deeply skeptical of each other’s commitments, and the latest Iranian denial raises fresh doubts about whether the promised Monday talks will materialize.
Congressional leaders from both parties have expressed growing concern about the lack of a coherent strategy. Several senators have called for formal oversight hearings, arguing that the administration’s stop-and-start approach to military planning is undermining American credibility with allies and adversaries alike. As the conflict drags on, the gap between Trump’s public optimism and the reality on the ground continues to widen.
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