President Trump on Thursday canceled a planned wave of air strikes on Iran and said a framework deal with Tehran has been reached at the highest level, a reversal that came less than 24 hours after he told reporters the United States would attack Iran "very hard tonight." Iran's Foreign Ministry disputed his account within hours, saying the text remains unfinished and that American negotiators keep adding demands.
The split screen, on day 105 of the war that began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes in March, leaves the conflict in an unresolved middle. The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz remains in force. American warplanes struck a third tanker off Oman the same day Trump announced the pause. Oil markets, shipping lanes and a regional coalition Trump says he has assembled are all waiting for a document neither side has produced.
What Trump announced
In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said discussions with Iran had been "brought to the highest level" and that signing details would be "announced shortly." He listed Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt as parties that had signed off. He also conceded that Iran has been "playing us for suckers" and "tapping us along," and said the Hormuz blockade will "remain in full force" until an agreement is finalized.
A person briefed on the talks told CBS News that Trump personally edited the draft memorandum this week, concentrating on two provisions: reopening the Strait of Hormuz to "unrestricted shipping traffic" with no tolls, and the removal of Iran's highly enriched uranium. The draft contemplates a 60-day cessation of violence and a framework for further nuclear talks, with sanctions relief that would unfreeze billions in Iranian assets if diplomacy advances.
What Tehran says
Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected the idea that a deal is in hand. "The main part of the text was almost finalized but the Americans were being greedy and raising new requests," the ministry said, according to Al Jazeera. Iranian officials told the network there are "no negotiations" currently underway on nuclear issues and said Trump misrepresented provisions on toll-free passage and uranium removal.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned against "impulsive decisions" that could "explode energy infrastructure and markets, and create an endless quagmire."
The shooting continues
The pause Trump announced does not extend to the Strait. U.S. forces struck three commercial vessels carrying Indian crews between Monday and Thursday, killing three Indian sailors aboard the Palau-flagged Settebello on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera. An F-18 Super Hornet put a precision munition into the engine room of the Marivex on Monday, forcing 24 crew to abandon ship. A third tanker, the MT Jalveer, was hit Thursday off Oman with 20 Indian crew aboard.
India summoned Jason Meeks, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, to protest. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "These attacks must cease and end. We also call for dialogue and diplomacy so that we can have an early return to peace and stability in the region." At least seven Indian sailors have been killed since March. International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called the strikes on seafarers "simply unacceptable."
The case against the pause
Trump's own allies in the administration and on the right have argued that halting strikes hands Iran time to disperse enriched uranium and rebuild air defenses degraded over 105 days of bombing. Trump himself acknowledged Tehran's record of stringing negotiators along, and the blockade he is keeping in place is, by his framing, the leverage that brought Iran to the table. Pulling strikes before a signed text, critics inside that camp argue, trades pressure for a promise.
Trump told reporters he is "in no hurry," saying, "if you're going to be in a hurry, you're not going to make a good deal." Whether a signed memorandum exists by the end of the 60-day window the draft contemplates will determine whether Thursday's reversal was a diplomatic opening or a pause between strikes.