Where things stand now
Trump’s announcement comes after he has publicly and privately mused about resuming full-scale operations against Iran. Last week, Trump reportedly ditched plans to escalate the U.S. military campaign after advisers cautioned that such an offensive could put the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile at dangerous levels. Still, at least publicly, Trump continued to threaten more attacks on Iran. On Friday, the President said U.S. forces “will be hitting them very hard, and you know at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”
It appeared that the U.S. was planning a major attack. On Saturday, the State Department issued new security alerts over the potential risk of escalation, and U.S. embassies in Jordan, Iraq, and Israel advised heightened caution.
Later that day, Trump said he had called off the attack at Iran’s request.
But Iran disputed Trump’s rationale for calling off the attack. Instead, Iranian officials suggested that the threat of further disruptions to global markets, including if Iran’s proxies escalated attacks in other shipping routes, forced Trump to back down.
Read the full article here
