US President Trump said on Thursday that he has called off strikes against Iran after reaching a deal with the regime.
"Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as president of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening," the president stated.
"Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved."
Trump said that the other parties were "Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and others".
Trump had stated on Thursday that the US would “hit Iran very hard” that evening, but the promised strikes did not come to fruition.
It is not clear whether the president still intends, as he also said on Thursday, to seize Kharg Island, the heart of Iran’s oil processing industry in the Strait of Hormuz, “in the not too distant future”.
However, US naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz "will remain in full force and effect until this transaction is finalised," Trump stated. "Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly."
During a press conference in the Oval Office later in the day, Trump said that "we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this".
"We have a signing soon, and the documents are in pretty final shape, so we'll see," he said. "It should be done and it should be done pretty quickly."
"They want it every bit as much as everybody else wants it," the president said. "I think a lot of good relationships can ensue from this."
Iranian media linked to the IRGC has reportedly denied the approval of an agreement with the United States.
"I hope we have in fact reached a diplomatic solution to end the Iranian conflict that will meet President Trump’s red lines and be fundamentally different from the JCPOA [the 2015 nuclear deal]," said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
"As in the past, any agreement reached with Iran related to their nuclear programme will be presented to Congress for review and approval," the senator stated. "I look forward to that process."
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told JNS that the president has been "practising his own brand of coercive diplomacy".
IRGC-linked media outlets denying that there is a deal is not the same as Iranian officials denying it, according to Brodsky.
"I'll believe there's a deal when I see there's a deal," he said.
"This is not a final deal," he added. "This is a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for more talks about Iran's nuclear program."
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