President Trump said Thursday he's canceling strikes in Iran for this evening and that a peace deal is imminent. It's the latest salvo in a series of whiplash proclamations threatening more strikes and promising peace.
"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," he wrote on Truth Social.
"The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly," he added.
He said later in the Oval Office: "We should get done over the next few days. We're going to have a signing, maybe in Europe, and it's a great thing."
Trump was asked if they secured an agreement on nuclear issues and he said "yes, conceptually."
This comes as Trump in recent days had again been amping up his war rhetoric.
Earlier Thursday morning, the president had said that the U.S. will attack Iran "VERY HARD TONIGHT," while almost simultaneously telling Fox News the two sides are still negotiating.
Trump posted that the U.S. would also seize vital Iranian oil infrastructure, including Kharg Island, "at some point in the not too distant future."
The island, a key oil infrastructure site for Iran, has long been on the U.S. military's radar as a strategic target but carries a high potential for U.S. casualties.
"My preference has always been (to) take Kharg Island," Trump said on Fox News, adding later. "But I don't know that America has the stomach."
And now, Trump says the deal is so close that he says the time and place of the signing will be announced shortly.
The somewhat conflicting statements represent the box Trump finds himself in trying to will — and bomb — Iran into submission as inflation hits the highest number in years and his popularity remains at a low point.
It's clear that Trump wants the war to be over.
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a professor of information studies at Syracuse University, says there are also so many other things out of his control.
"I think from a rhetorical perspective, Trump is still trying to manufacture reality that he wants to be true, but it comes up against the actual state of affairs that he doesn't have much control over at the end of the day," she said.
She said it's also about assuring Americans that it's going to work out like he promised if he just has a little more time to end the war. The challenge is gas prices keep going up. Electricity is getting more expensive. And after weeks and weeks of hearing the same thing, polls show Americans are losing confidence in the message.
After more than three months of war, Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about 20% of the world's energy supply travels.
A volatile ceasefire has been in place since April, but the two sides have been increasingly striking each other's targets as Trump has grown frustrated about the lack of a deal.
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