Topline<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump canceled strikes on Iran scheduled for later Thursday, claiming Tehran\u2019s leadership has agreed to a peace deal that will be signed \u201cshortly.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Air Force One prior to departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, on June 9, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Trump said on Truth Social<\/a> the decision was \u201cbased on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved,\u201d adding the U.S. naval blockade on ships coming in and out of Iran would \u201cremain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump said earlier Thursday the U.S. would attack Iran \u201cVERY HARD TONIGHT,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social, threatening to also take over Kharg Island, major infrastructure and Iran\u2019s oil and gas markets \u201cin the not too distant future.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump told Fox News in a phone interview Thursday that his \u201cpreference\u201d is to take Kharg Island, but he\u2019s not sure Americans have \u201cthe stomach, I think they\u2019d like to see us come home.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump announced Wednesday the strikes would resume over what he said was Iran\u2019s refusal to negotiate a permanent peace deal.<\/p>\n U.S. Central Command said the military struck an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday for \u201cattempting to transport Iranian oil\u201d and attacked another tanker a day earlier, killing three Indian crew members. <\/p>\n The U.S. also launched a wave of attacks late Wednesday in and around Tehran targeting Iranian military surveillance and communications systems and air defense sites, while the New York Times reported<\/a> that an analysis of satellite images and video suggest drinking-water facilities in southern Iran were also hit in the strikes.<\/p>\n Crucial Quote<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said on X<\/a> Thursday, shortly after Trump\u2019s threats, that \u201cwrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board of the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years. You will see a different Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n How has Iran responded to the latest strikes?<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign ministry called the strikes \u201cillegal and criminal\u201d in a statement Thursday and said they rendered the ceasefire \u201cpractically meaningless.\u201d Iran launched missiles and drones at U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan this week in response to the new U.S. strikes. Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace amid the attacks and its military said Thursday it dealt with 24 hostile drones in its airspace over the past 48 hours. \u201cThe Iranian aggression resulted in limited material damage without any human casualties,\u201d the Kuwait Army said on X<\/a>. Iran on Monday also shot down an Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman. The two pilots were rescued.<\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n The U.S. presented Iran with a peace deal in late May that would require Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and establish a framework for ending its nuclear program, but Tehran has yet to agree to the terms. Iran has repeatedly refused for years to fully end its nuclear program, insisting it\u2019s designed to protect Iran\u2019s sovereignty and not to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran hasn\u2019t publicly addressed the nuclear issue in the latest phase of negotiations. Trump has said repeatedly since the ceasefire began in April that the U.S. and Iran are close to reaching an agreement, though bouts of fighting have continued. <\/p>\n further reading<\/p>\n Trump Says Iran Downed U.S. Helicopter\u2014Plunging Peace Deal In Doubt<\/a> (Forbes)<\/p>\n