President Donald Trump flagged a pause in strikes targeting Iran and its power generation capabilities on Monday morning, taking to social media to declare his hopes for a peaceful resolution to hostilities sooner rather than later.
Trump says the U.S. and Iran have held talks on the “complete and total resolution of hostilities” in the Middle East driven by Operation Epic Fury.
The president says that, as a result of the diplomatic exchanges, he has postponed threatened future strikes on Iranian power plants and infrastructure.
Trump says he will “postpone any and all strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure” for a five day period.
In a post on Truth Social all in capital letters he says:
“I AM PLEASE TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
“BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WITCH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”
The announcement came hours after Iran threatened to deploy naval mines across the Gulf if the U.S. or Israel dared to attack its coasts, warning key shipping routes could be targeted.
On Saturday night, Trump gave Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – or, he said, the U.S. would “obliterate” Iranian power plants, “starting with the biggest one first,” as Breitbart News reported.
AP reports Trump’s announcement came as the United Arab Emirates reported its air defenses were attempting to intercept new incoming Iranian fire Monday afternoon.
Prior to Trump’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged talking by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Turkey has been an intermediary before in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Meanwhile oil prices plunged and European stocks rebounded after Trump ordered the halt to strikes.
More to come…
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