ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump on Sunday ruled out military strikes against Iran that day but left the possibility of future attacks open while Tehran expresses both willingness to negotiate as well as a warning it would retaliate if hostilities resumed.
“The answer is no. There will not be a strike today,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House to head to Michigan for a campaign rally.
Trump’s statement comes after US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said last Friday the US could “absolutely” strike Iran as soon as this weekend.
“Would I tell you that?” Trump replied when asked about his intentions towards Iran, casting doubt on his denial.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump reiterated to Fox News once more he was at the crossroads of a final decision on Iran. “Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? That’s a decision,” the President said.
“We may do another little epic fury, or they’ll agree. If they are smart they’ll say let’s get down to business,” Trump also said in a speech during a campaign rally on Saturday.
Tehran has continued pursuing a dual policy of negotiations while threatening to expand the conflict further in case hostilities broke out again.
“We have never left the negotiating table. At the same time, we have been fully prepared to defend our country. Messages are being conveyed through intermediaries,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Bahgaei said Sunday, according to state-backed outlet Tehran Times.
"The United States appears to be insisting on and persisting with its unilateral demands,” he added.
This follows reports by the Qatar-funded the New Arab claiming Sunday a Qatari mediating delegation had landed in Tehran to carry out emergency mediations and reduce regional tensions.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has maintained over the past month that negotiations remain “on the table.”
“Our conditions are entirely clear and have been presented to the United States in the form of a seven-day plan,” a statement from the ministry read following a summit in Baghdad.
The seven-day plan is similar in content to the Memorandum of Understanding that resulted in a short-lived ceasefire earlier this year.
In this agreement, Washington would have to lift the naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, issue the immediate release of all frozen assets linked to Iran, and an “end to the war across the resistance movement.”
The Strait of Hormuz has been at the fore of tensions over the last few months during which direct hostilities have ceased.
Both Washington and Tehran claim control over the Strait, inhibiting the global oil markets, in an attempt to economically impact one another.
Tehran has ramped up its attacks against vessels transiting Hormuz in recent days. The IRGC claimed that they had attacked two supertankers carrying more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil on Friday.
Trump in turn accused Tehran of “fabricating” attacks to drive up the price of oil ahead of US midterm elections in early November.
Tehran has warned countries of siding with the US in case war breaks out again. IRGC-affiliated outlet Farsnews reported Sunday that should Berlin “enter into a military confrontation against Iran, all German-linked military bases and facilities across the region will be considered legitimate defensive targets.”
This follows an alleged increase in what the outlet called “Germany’s anti-Iran activities”.
Last Monday, Germany summoned Iran’s ambassador to Berlin after a court in Hamburg sentenced two men found guilty of plotting to assassinate two prominent Jewish and pro-Israel figures.
“We do not tolerate attacks on Jewish life and on those who defend it- anywhere, and certainly not in Germany,” the German Foreign Office said.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the claims as “baseless political allegations.”
This incident happened in the same month as a British court sentenced a Norwegian national whose foiled assassination plot was connected to a network with links to Tehran.
Iran has also rejected the allegations.
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