Topline
President Donald Trump canceled strikes on Iran scheduled for later Thursday, claiming Tehran’s leadership has agreed to a peace deal that will be signed “shortly.”
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)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump said on Truth Social the decision was “based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved,” adding the U.S. naval blockade on ships coming in and out of Iran would “remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized.”
Trump said earlier Thursday the U.S. would attack Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” he wrote on Truth Social, threatening to also take over Kharg Island, major infrastructure and Iran’s oil and gas markets “in the not too distant future.”
Trump told Fox News in a phone interview Thursday that his “preference” is to take Kharg Island, but he’s not sure Americans have “the stomach, I think they’d like to see us come home.”
Trump announced Wednesday the strikes would resume over what he said was Iran’s refusal to negotiate a permanent peace deal.
U.S. Central Command said the military struck an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday for “attempting to transport Iranian oil” and attacked another tanker a day earlier, killing three Indian crew members.
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 that an analysis of satellite images and video suggest drinking-water facilities in southern Iran were also hit in the strikes.
Crucial Quote
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said on X Thursday, shortly after Trump’s threats, that “wrong 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.”
How has Iran responded to the latest strikes?
Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes “illegal and criminal” in a statement Thursday and said they rendered the ceasefire “practically meaningless.” 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. “The Iranian aggression resulted in limited material damage without any human casualties,” the Kuwait Army said on X. Iran on Monday also shot down an Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman. The two pilots were rescued.
Key Background
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’s designed to protect Iran’s sovereignty and not to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran hasn’t 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.
further reading
Trump Says Iran Downed U.S. Helicopter—Plunging Peace Deal In Doubt (Forbes)
Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Hit’ Iran Again Today—After Previously Criticizing Lengthy Peace Talks (Forbes)
U.S. Army Helicopter Crashes Near Strait Of Hormuz—Trump Says ‘Pilots Are Fine’ (Forbes)