IN BRIEF
- Trump said the US was planning to attack Iran "tomorrow".
- US authorities had refused to release "even 25 percent" of Iran's frozen assets, Iranian media reported.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday AEST he had held off on imminent plans to resume attacking Iran, as Tehran rebuffs his demands for ending the war.
Trump said that he stopped the purported attack plan at the behest of Gulf Arab allies, which Iran has threatened with reciprocal attacks if the United States and Israel relaunch their assault and end a nearly six-week ceasefire.
Trump, who had indefinitely extended the truce and made clear he wants to exit a war that has proven to be a political liability, said publicly that he had prepared a new attack for Tuesday.
The leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates 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 wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He said the Gulf allies voiced confidence in reaching an agreement "which will be very acceptable" to the United States and Middle Eastern nations and result in "NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!"
Trump threatens 'large-scale assault' on Iran if deal not reached
But Trump said he had instructed the US 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."
Iran has repeatedly rebuffed Trump's offers on a deal and has exerted control over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway into the Gulf, sending global oil prices spiralling.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed exchanges with the United States through mediator Pakistan and said Iran made clear its "concerns."
The country, whose supreme leader was killed in the initial US-Israeli strikes on 28 February but has proven resilient, is demanding the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad and the lifting of long-standing sanctions.
Baqaei said Iran was also demanding reparations for the "illegal and baseless" war and was "fully prepared for any eventuality" if the United States resumes military action.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, considered a moderate in a system increasingly dominated since the war by the Revolutionary Guards, said that speaking with Washington in search of a deal was not to be viewed negatively.
"Dialogue does not mean surrender. The Islamic Republic of Iran enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and the preservation of the nation's rights, and will under no circumstances retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country," he wrote on X.
On Sunday, Iran's Fars news agency said the US had presented a five-point list, which included a demand for Iran to keep only one nuclear site in operation and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the United States.
US authorities had refused to release "even 25 percent" of Iran's frozen assets or pay any reparations for war damage, Fars said.
But Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source close to the Iranian negotiating team, said on Monday that the United States made one new step forward in the latest text by agreeing to waive oil sanctions during a negotiation period.
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