WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump says he is putting off a planned attack against Iran as requested by the leaders of four Gulf countries.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said 'serious negotiations are now taking place' to end the Middle East war.
'I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond,' Trump wrote on Monday.
He said the deal will include 'NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN'.
Trump added that in the absence of a positive response from Tehran to his proposals, he has ordered the U.S. military leadership 'to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice'.
'Based on my respect for the above mentioned Leaders, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached'.
He told reporters later that there seems to be 'a very good chance' of striking a deal with Iran.
'We've had periods of time where we had, we thought, pretty much getting close to making a deal, and it didn't work out. But this is a little bit different.'
'If we can do that without bombing the hell out of them, I would be very happy,' he added.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN atomic watchdog underscored the need to safeguard nuclear security in wartime, a day after a drone strike near a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, apparenty launched by Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency was informed that the UAE has restored off-site power to Unit 3 of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant on Monday following the attack, which caused a fire at an electrical generator near the Emirates' sole nuclear plant.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi welcomed the restoration of external electricity supply 'as an important step for nuclear safety, which means the reactor no longer needs emergency diesel generators for power'.
The plant can reportedly provide a quarter of UAE's energy needs.
In apparent attempt to put pressure on Washington, Iran has been carrying out drone and missile strikes on many U.S.-allied countries in the Gulf.
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