President Donald Trump said Saturday night that he called off a massive planned attack on Iran and is pressing for an immediate agreement, adding that Israel supports the commitment.

Trump said American forces remain “locked and loaded” and ready to act against Iran at a level of military power he described as unseen since World War II. The statement pairs a stand-down with an explicit threat, leaving the military option openly on the table if talks fail to produce terms quickly. No agreement has been announced and the situation remains fluid.

The reversal comes within hours of reporting that Washington and Jerusalem were preparing one of the war’s heaviest bombing campaigns, with Iranian energy infrastructure on the target list and strikes possible across the weekend. Planners had discussed attempting to conclude the campaign before financial markets open Monday, on concern about the effect on the American and global economy, though no end point had been set. That detail signaled how directly the targeting decision was being weighed against economic consequences — and the pause suggests those consequences carried weight.

Regional pressure preceded the decision. Trump spoke Saturday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who reinforced Riyadh’s desire for de-escalation and raised concerns about the strike plans. Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan had been working urgently to prevent a new escalation, including calls with Iranian and American officials and with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. A near-term objective has been an arrangement between Iran and Oman that would let commercial traffic resume moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

For businesses with exposure to the region, the immediate tail risk has narrowed. Strikes on Iranian refineries and export terminals were the scenario most likely to trigger reciprocal attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure — the facilities that clear a large share of the world’s seaborne crude. Removing that from the weekend’s range of outcomes takes the sharpest supply shock off the table before trading resumes.

What it does not do is restore normal conditions. Kuwait’s military said Saturday its forces were responding to Iranian drone attacks that struck a number of vital facilities, including a government building in the country’s north, with no casualties reported. The UK Maritime Trade Organization reported that an unknown projectile struck a tanker eleven nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman, damaging its engine room, and that a large splash and explosion occurred near a second tanker off Khasab. US embassies in Amman, Jerusalem and Baghdad issued security alerts Saturday citing heightened tensions and advised Americans in the region to prepare for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures and travel disruptions. Those advisories remain in force.

The pattern is also familiar. This is not the first stand-down of the five-month war. Trump paused strikes in late July to give negotiations another chance, telling Axios that Washington was in deep talks with Tehran and would return to strong military action if they failed, and that he was allowing little time — either it moves fast or not at all. That pause collapsed within days when Iran launched a surprise attack on US forces and Central Command resumed strikes on July 29. A June memorandum of understanding intended to end the war within 60 days of signing also broke down in July after Iran struck three commercial vessels that bypassed its preapproved transit route.

Each prior de-escalation delivered a brief improvement in freight and insurance conditions before hostilities resumed. Cargo owners and underwriters who repriced on the last pause absorbed the cost when it failed, which argues for treating this one as provisional rather than structural until terms are actually signed.

The unresolved issue remains the same one that has broken every previous framework: who controls transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has insisted on approving passage; Washington and the Gulf states have pushed for open, toll-free navigation. Until that question is settled in writing, shipping schedules and energy contracts through the corridor stay exposed to reversal on a single announcement.

For now, the weekend’s worst case has been deferred. Whether it has been avoided depends on what emerges from talks in the coming days.

This is a developing story.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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