The U.S. military was fully postured and just three hours away from launching another round of strikes against Iran on Thursday when President Donald Trump abruptly halted the operation and announced that a breakthrough agreement with Tehran was nearing completion, according to a report published Thursday night.
According to NBC News, the military had already received orders to carry out the strikes and was actively preparing for the mission when Trump called it off. U.S. Navy vessels had adjusted air operations and readied munitions for the planned attack before the president announced that discussions with Iran had reached the country’s highest levels and that the framework of a deal had been approved.
The revelation underscores how close Washington came to a third consecutive night of military action against Iran after U.S. forces struck Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communications systems, and air defense sites the previous night as part of a pressure campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to accept a U.S.-backed framework agreement.
According to the report, the strikes being prepared for Thursday night closely resembled those carried out the night before. Officials said Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export hub, was not among the planned targets despite Trump’s public threat earlier in the day that the United States would eventually take control of the island and other Iranian energy infrastructure.
The officials further said preparations for the operation continued throughout the day and that military planners expected the strikes to move forward after Trump publicly warned that the United States would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT.” According to the report, the president’s announcement that a breakthrough agreement was within reach came only hours before the operation was set to begin.
The decision came after a flurry of diplomatic outreach from key regional mediators. According to Politico, senior officials from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan spoke with Trump after he threatened to strike Iran earlier Thursday and assured him that an agreement was within reach, ultimately persuading the president to stand down the planned operation.
Hours after calling off the operation, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he believed Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had approved the emerging agreement.
“I understand the answer is yes,” Trump said when asked whether Khamenei had signed off on the deal.
Pressed on why he was confident an agreement would succeed after several previous false starts, Trump pointed to the military pressure campaign against Tehran.
“They’ve taken a pounding. They’ve taken a pounding like very few people could take. And they want to make a deal a lot more than I do,” Trump said.
The president also reiterated that any final agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“They will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “They will not only not have, they will not purchase, develop in any way, shape, or form a nuclear weapon.”
Trump first announced the breakthrough on Thursday on Truth Social, saying he had canceled planned strikes after discussions with Iran had been elevated to the country’s highest leadership levels and approved in principle by all parties involved.
He added that the U.S. naval blockade would remain in place until the agreement is finalized and said a signing ceremony would be announced shortly.
At a virtual tele-rally later Thursday evening, Trump declared that the conflict had effectively been resolved.
“I don’t know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today and they have agreed never to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “That was the whole purpose.”
“Probably you heard that today we settled up with Iran. We made a great deal,” he added. “There’ll be no nuclear weapons. People will start coming home very soon. It’s pretty much completed. We got everything we wanted.”
While Iranian officials have acknowledged that negotiations are in their final stages, Tehran has stopped short of confirming Trump’s announcement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Thursday that much of the negotiating text had already been completed but insisted that Iran had not yet reached a final decision regarding the agreement.
“Iran has not yet reached a final decision regarding an agreement,” Baghaei said, according to Iranian state media.
Multiple reports, however, indicate significant progress in recent days. According to sources briefed on the negotiations, mediators from Qatar and Pakistan have worked to narrow remaining disagreements involving the release of frozen Iranian assets, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the framework for future negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke with Trump on Thursday following the president’s announcement.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Trump’s commitment that any final agreement would include the removal of enriched nuclear material, the dismantling of Iran’s enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and an end to Tehran’s support for regional terrorist proxies.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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