Trump says US, Israel hold off Iran strikes as deal to end war takes shape

Trump says US, Israel hold off Iran strikes as deal to end war takes shape

US President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the Iran war and said he would hold off on ordering new strikes in the five-month old conflict for now.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said that the emerging deal "would include the immediate, complete, and total opening" of the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most vital energy conduit that has mostly been blocked by Iran since the war broke out on February 28.

"The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II. Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran's nuclear threat," he said.

"Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL," he added.

Trump said that Israel, which had conducted joint strikes with the American military in February, killing Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has agreed to join the US in the commitment to try to complete the agreement with Iran that would bring about an end to the war.

"Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE," he said.