President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he had cancelled scheduled U.S. strikes and bombings against Iran, citing rapid progress on a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at extending a fragile ceasefire and launching formal negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program. In a Truth Social post and a phone interview with the New York Post, Trump said the agreement was “pretty much all wrapped up,” with documents at a “fairly final stage.” He added that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and claimed the deal had received approval at the highest levels in Iran and from multiple regional players, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others. The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports will remain in place until the deal is signed, with time and location of the signing to be announced shortly.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office later confirmed that Trump spoke with Netanyahu this evening specifically about the emerging MOU. According to the readout, Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Trump’s commitment that any final agreement would require the removal of enriched nuclear material, dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and an end to Iran’s support for terrorist proxies – even though Israel is not a direct party to the MOU. Earlier in the day, Trump had sharply escalated rhetoric by threatening to seize Iran’s key oil-export hub at Kharg Island and hit Iran “very hard,” a move widely seen as leverage that may have accelerated the diplomatic opening.

“President Trump spoke this evening with Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the emerging memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to enter into negotiations,” the PM’s office wrote on X. “Even though Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding, the Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”

Iranian state media, including Fars News Agency, quickly pushed back, stating that no final MOU text had been approved. Some Israeli officials also indicated they had not been briefed on a finalized deal. Markets reacted positively in the short term, with U.S. stocks rising and oil prices falling on hopes of de-escalation. The developments remain fluid, with both sides continuing to trade public signals amid ongoing regional tensions.

President Trump told the New York Post in a phone interview that the US-Iran agreement is “pretty much all wrapped up,” claiming high-level approval and announcing he has called off further strikes on Iran.

Iranian state media immediately pushed back. Fars News Agency, citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, stated that no text for the initial memorandum of understanding with the United States has been approved.

The dueling statements reflect the familiar pattern in these negotiations: the US side projecting near-completion while Iranian officials emphasize that no final text has received leadership approval. This comes amid ongoing indirect mediation efforts, including Qatari involvement.

TACO Thursday… Trump again backs off prior repeat vows. He’s been threatening since last night that he’ll “bomb the shit” out of Iran, and followed by specifically saying this morning that ‘bigger airstrikes’ would come tonight. It’s after 9pm in Iran and there’s been nothing yet.

And now the president is saying he’s canceled the planned strikes altogether. He’s saying this is due to “discussions” at the highest level with Iranian leadership. But Tehran has rejected that it’s engaged with talks. One side or the other is lying. Might the following from CNN have some direct bearing on this sudden reversal in intentions?

Energy executives have warned the White House that key oil reserves being used to limit the Iran war’s impact on prices are running dangerously low, via CNN citing sources.

Oil plunges after the bombshell Truth Social reversal and sudden de-escalation in US military posture from the Commander-in-Chief:

This is another latest sign Washington is still looking for an off-ramp through negotiations. Trump is hoping to push Iran back into talks through bombing, which thus far hasn’t worked (since even the opening days of Epic Fury). According to the latest reporting out of Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News:

US Tells Israel Not To Attack Iran At This Stage – Kanhttps://t.co/HfQD420Own pic.twitter.com/Rx33bIdkvU

Iran Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf says “Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years.”

He’s seizing on the lessons of Bush’s Afghan and Iraq wars, which the media and history books have long looked critically on as ‘forever wars’. There’s also the general war-weariness among the American public, also as the Russia-Ukraine war is in its fifth year. This is Tehran again counter-signaling that there is no imminent deal or even so much as forward-moving negotiations to speak of.

Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years.

You will see a different Iran.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is pushing back against Iran’s assertion that it has again locked down international shipping transit in the Strait of Hormuz:

And more from Trump on from bad to worse escalatory ‘options’:

Trump on Fox News: “My preference has always been to take Kharg Island. I don’t know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest.”

President Trump follows on the heels of vowing to hit Iran “very hard tonight” with some further words revealing his thinking in a morning Fox News interview. Trump has promised a “bigger, more powerful” bombing of Iran. “They have no defense,” he said, and pledged “they’re finished”. But be again lambasted the media for not saying that they are actually “finished”.

He explained that if needed, US troops can be used to “take over the whole place” – but still expressed he doesn’t desire to put US American forces on the ground. 

Separately, CNN has cited US admin officials who suggest that a move to capture Kharg Island is an “endgame” strategy option. So this suggests its low on the White House agenda, after Trump earlier hinted that this could be done.

Source Zerohedge.Com