Trump Suspends Planned Iran Strike After Gulf Ally Intervention, Keeps Military on Alert

President Donald Trump announced May 18 that he had called off a military strike on Iran scheduled for that day after the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates urged him to allow ongoing negotiations to proceed. Trump stated in a Truth Social post that Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had asked him "to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place." Trump spoke by phone with the three leaders in the 24 hours before his announcement, according to two sources with knowledge of the calls. One U.S. official described "a unified message from Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh" urging Washington to give diplomacy a chance before any military escalation.

Trump said in the post that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, and others to stand down the planned strike. He did not disclose details of the planned operation but stated he had instructed the military "to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached." The commander-in-chief's authority to direct military force in this context flows from his Article II powers as commander-in-chief, though under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution, only Congress holds the power to formally declare war. The administration has not sought a formal declaration, and no authorization for use of military force specific to this conflict has been publicly presented to Congress.

The pause comes as Pakistan, acting as a backchannel intermediary between Washington and Tehran, delivered a revised Iranian ceasefire proposal to U.S. officials on May 18. Reuters reported that Iran's new terms appeared similar to offers Washington had previously rejected, though a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the U.S. had softened its positions on some issues; a Pakistani source confirmed Islamabad shared the latest proposal with Washington. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that Tehran's views had been "conveyed to the American side through Pakistan" but declined to provide further detail. The Pakistani source warned that the sides "keep changing their goalposts" and said: "We don't have much time." Since direct U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad broke down last month, Pakistan has served as the primary intermediary, with the two sides not meeting directly since.

Iran's position on the core nuclear issue has not shifted. The gap between the U.S. opening position, centered on demanding Iran halt uranium enrichment, and Tehran's position, which holds that enrichment is its right under international law, remains the central obstacle. Washington has demanded Iran explicitly abandon its nuclear program and surrender its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, approaching weapons-grade levels. Iranian officials have publicly stated that retaining the right to enrich uranium inside Iran is a red line. During earlier negotiations in Islamabad, the U.S. proposed a 20-year moratorium on Iranian enrichment; Iran countered with a shorter, unspecified single-digit period. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the first Trump administration withdrew from in 2018, had capped enrichment at 3.67% and restricted Iran's centrifuge capacity, but the deal proved short-lived, and Iran used the intervening years to advance its nuclear capabilities and amass sizable stockpiles of enriched uranium.

The current conflict traces directly to the failure of a prior diplomatic track. Negotiations between Iran and the United States began in April 2025, following a letter from Trump to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with Trump setting a 60-day deadline; after the deadline passed without agreement, Israel launched strikes against Iran, igniting the current war. A fragile ceasefire has been in place following six weeks of war that included U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, but Pakistan-mediated talks have stalled and Trump has described the ceasefire as "on life support." Low-level hostilities have continued under the nominal truce. Drone launches from Iran toward Gulf countries hosting U.S. military bases have continued, including a strike that caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in the UAE, and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones.

Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and backed off, and has on prior occasions indicated he would allow talks to proceed only to subsequently launch strikes. He has made repeated claims of progress toward a deal since the war began, but there have been no recent breakthroughs. The president's May 18 announcement did not identify a new deadline or define the terms of an "acceptable deal." The White House did not provide a formal statement to press inquiries about Iran's revised proposal, pointing reporters instead to Trump's Truth Social post.