President Trump said late Saturday that he had canceled threatened U.S. strikes on Iran, opting to pull back from the brink of renewed war in the Middle East for the second time in two weeks.
Mr. Trump said in a social media post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to refrain from military action. He also said the “perimeters of a deal” had been reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for global oil and gas blockaded by Iran for months now.
At least one important U.S. ally appeared to have tried to steer Mr. Trump away from renewed attacks. Saudi state media reported on Sunday morning that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, recently spoke with Mr. Trump to urge “the necessity of prioritizing dialogue to de-escalate tensions” and “prevent a wider conflict.”
Iran has yet to give any indication that an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was close, and Mr. Trump gave no specifics.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened a huge attack on Iran’s critical infrastructure, only to abruptly de-escalate while claiming a diplomatic breakthrough was in the offing. But the promised deal has rarely materialized, sending the two sides back into a cycle of attacks and counterattacks.
More than five months since the United States and Israel jointly launched a war on Iran in late February, neither military attacks nor negotiations have achieved their stated goal of forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program.
Nor has Mr. Trump been able to prevent Iran from throttling ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to pressure the U.S. to end the conflict. Before the war, vessels passed freely through the strait — one of the world’s most important conduits for global energy supplies. The disruption has spiked fuel prices and disrupted global markets.
Speaking on Friday from Camp David, Mr. Trump said the United States was weighing additional military action against Iran in an effort to force its leaders to accept U.S. terms. The U.S. military has rushed additional bombers and fighters to the region, laying the groundwork for a potential renewed offensive.
“We’ll be hitting them very hard, and you know at some point they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore,’” Mr. Trump told reporters at the time.
But few in Mr. Trump’s inner circle believed that a renewed escalation with Iran was wise, The New York Times has reported. U.S. officials have warned the escalation could seriously deplete supplies of essential interceptors capable of shooting down Iranian drones and ballistic missiles, and leave American troops and allies more exposed than they were earlier in the conflict.
Because both war and diplomacy have brought little progress, Mr. Trump has been left with a variety of risky and unpalatable choices for how to proceed. The prospect of a widening war in the Middle East, the vulnerability of key Gulf allies to Iranian attack and a global economic crunch have weighed on the president and his top aides.
Arab Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, which host U.S. military forces and installations, have borne the brunt of Iran’s retaliation, facing regular missile and drone attacks as well as major disruption to their energy exports. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed has been one of the most active figures pushing behind the scenes for an end to the war.
“The Kingdom believes that escalation may not work,” said Ali Shihabi, a Saudi commentator close to the government. “Instead, it believes that calibrated military responses, combined with sustained pressure on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, offer the best prospect for achieving a workable diplomatic solution.”
In May, the prince denied U.S. access to Saudi airspace and American bases in the country, forcing Mr. Trump to abandon a plan in which the U.S. military would have escorted ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi officials feared the operation was poorly planned and could have led the conflict to spiral out of control.
On Saturday as Mr. Trump’s threatened strikes loomed, Abbas Aragchi, the Iranian foreign minister, conducted a marathon run of phone calls with officials in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, as well as Britain and India. The Iranian foreign ministry said Mr. Araghchi told his counterparts that Iran would forcefully retaliate if attacked by the United States or Israel.
Trump administration officials signed a cease-fire with Iran in late June that they hoped would lead to negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But the truce was short-lived. Weeks later, it collapsed after Iran again throttled the strait, which it has used as a powerful bargaining chip in talks with the United States.
For weeks, the U.S. military has bombarded Iranian military targets around the strait in response to Iranian attacks on passing commercial ships. But the American attacks have failed to ensure safe passage for vessels there or force an Iranian retreat.
Instead, the conflict has at many moments seemed poised to expand. Yemen’s Houthis, who are backed by Iran, tried to impose a blockade on Saudi Arabia in another maritime choke point in the Red Sea, further rattling global energy markets.
And this past week, two gas tankers, including a U.S.-owned vessel, caught fire after an apparent drone attack at an Egyptian port near the Suez Canal. Egypt had not previously been targeted in the war, and the Suez Canal is one of the last calm waterways for carrying goods of the Middle East.
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia carried out joint airstrikes with the United States against Iran-linked militias in Iraq, accusing them of attacking Saudi oil facilities on Monday. Saudi government statements appeared to portray the strikes as a limited reaction to specific attacks, rather than an entry into the wider war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.