Trump Changes Course Again, Cancels Iran Airstrike

U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned large-scale airstrike on Iran just before it was to be carried out on June 1-2, local time. Foreign media outlets speculated that Saudi Arabia had dissuaded Trump, while Iran portrayed the move as a U.S. retreat.
On June 1, Trump said the strike was called off because he had been asked to stop the attack after reaching an agreement on the scope of negotiations with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. He said that the terms included the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran's nuclear threat. Trump added that he agreed to cancel the strike, on the condition that a swift deal could be reached, "for the future of the world and, at the same time, for the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran." He also said Israel was joining the commitment.
Earlier, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States was "locked and loaded" against Iran, with military threats, force, and combat readiness at a level not seen since World War II.
By contrast, Iran's state-run IRIB said on June 2 that Trump had "backed down again" from threats against Iran and called him a "U.S. president who incites war." That same day, the semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted an Iranian official as saying Trump's claim that Iran had asked for the attacks to stop was a "lie."
The United States and Iran clashed over control of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz between June and July, despite a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17. They only stopped hostilities on June 24 last month, but the two sides clashed again starting on June 28.
At a Cabinet meeting on May 31, Trump said, "We are going to hit them very hard," adding, "At some point, they will say, 'We can't take it anymore.'" On the same day, local media including CBS reported that Trump was planning a record-scale airstrike targeting Iran's energy infrastructure between June 1 and 2.
Iran also responded to Trump's threats. Noor News, a media outlet under Iran's Supreme National Security Council, reported on June 1 that if the United States attacked Iran's energy infrastructure, Iran would also strike oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as gas fields in Qatar and Israel, and "turn them all to ashes."
That same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after consecutive phone calls with ministers from Pakistan and Türkiye that Iran would "respond firmly to any aggression." He also said on Telegram that he had spoken with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and warned that "any aggression by the United States and Israel, or any involvement by regional states in such actions, will face a firm and proportionate response."
The content of the Iran-Saudi talks has not been disclosed. U.S. media outlets including AP reported on June 1, citing a source, that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MbS), Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, spoke with Trump that day. MbS reportedly urged de-escalation and restraint, expressing concern about a possible U.S. attack on Iran. The source said of the call, "The Saudi side is worried that Iran could retaliate by attacking energy facilities in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries."
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