Trump Cancels Planned Strikes on Iran, Hints at Weekend Signing in Europe

Asked whether Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had personally approved the agreement, Trump replied: "The way I understand it, the answer is yes." Trump said he had spoken to the "highest level of Iranian leadership" and that talks and final points had been approved in detail by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and others.

The announcement came only hours after Trump had threatened massive new attacks, writing on Truth Social that the US military would hit the Islamic Republic "very hard" on the night to Friday. In a phone call with Fox News, he had also spoken of "larger" and "more powerful" bombardments to come. Justifying the military strikes earlier in the week, Trump had cited stalled peace negotiations, but he said progress in the talks was now the reason for cancelling the planned attacks.

Strikes and Counterattacks

According to Iranian state media, at least three people were injured in attacks in Tehran province, and US forces reported that they had struck military surveillance facilities, communication systems and air defence positions in Iran the previous night. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards responded with counterattacks against US bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, and Iran's military threatened to target any ship attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Jordan said it had intercepted 20 missiles fired from Iran overnight, while in the Bahraini capital Manama and the town of Hammad, falling debris after Iranian drone attacks were repelled caused vehicles to catch fire and residential buildings to be damaged. An eleven-year-old girl was injured in Bahrain, according to local authorities. Iran also attacked Kuwait overnight, and Iran's military leadership, in a statement broadcast by state radio, threatened to attack any ship trying to transit the strait.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry sharply condemned the "large-scale" US attacks of the previous night and described the current ceasefire as "practically meaningless" in view of those strikes, but refrained from formally terminating the ceasefire that has been in place since April. The ministry said Iran retained a right to self-defence. The Iranian news agency Fars, citing negotiation circles, reported that "no text for an agreement has been approved," and Tehran played down Trump's statements about a potential deal.

The Core Disputes

Iran and Israel had exchanged fire over the weekend prior to the announcement, and the broader conflict between Iran and the United States has lasted three months and cost thousands of lives. The conflict has driven up global energy prices significantly and triggered a naval standoff in the Gulf. A central point of contention in the talks is the release of frozen Iranian oil revenues abroad, with Iran demanding the payout of six to twelve billion US dollars and the US government insisting that any funds be released in stages and used exclusively for humanitarian goods.

Iran is also demanding an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions and recognition of its control over the Strait of Hormuz, while Trump is demanding in return an end to the Iranian blockade of the strait and guarantees that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons. The framework agreement reportedly includes the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the end of the US naval blockade, and Trump said the deal would mean that Iran would "never have a nuclear weapon," without providing further details.

Both sides have exchanged drafts of a declaration of intent, according to Reuters, citing Iranian insiders and a European diplomat, and Iranian and Western insiders said on Thursday that efforts toward a preliminary agreement to halt hostilities had been intensified. From the Iranian side, it was stated shortly afterwards that no text for a declaration of intent had yet been approved, and Iran indicated that if the US accepted its proposal, it would likely agree as well.

Trump said the form of agreement being pursued was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and he suggested the signing could take place as early as the weekend. He said he would not be present but that Vance would attend, and he added that he planned to speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Trump has repeatedly claimed since mid-March that an agreement with Iran was imminent, though no agreement has yet been concluded.

Kharg Island and the Oil Stakes

On Truth Social, Trump also wrote that in the not-too-distant future the US would take over the island of Kharg, important to Iran's oil industry, along with other oil infrastructure, and thereby gain "complete control" over Iran's oil and gas, comparing the approach to that used in Venezuela. Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf hosts Iran's most important oil port, where approximately 90 percent of the Islamic Republic's oil exports are handled, and a US takeover of the island has been a topic of discussion for some time.

The Iranian portal Mehr reported, citing official sources, that a boat loaded with staple foods was hit by a US projectile in the Strait of Hormuz in the early morning hours local time; the crew was rescued, and India's Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said 21 additional crew members were rescued. The US Central Command (Centcom) wrote on X: "Commercial vessels continue to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonight." The US military also said it had attacked a tanker in the Gulf of Oman that allegedly attempted to transport Iranian oil, and India reported three Indian crew members killed in that tanker attack.

Market Reaction

Financial markets reacted sharply to the prospect of de-escalation. Following Trump's announcement, the oil price fell noticeably, with the global benchmark North Sea Brent crude dropping below 90 US dollars per barrel to its lowest level since mid-April. Stock indices on the New York Stock Exchange extended their gains and the euro rose against the US dollar. Two ships were reportedly fired upon, according to state radio.

Road to the G7 Summit

The announcement comes as Trump plans to fly to France for the G7 summit, which takes place in the French resort town of Évian on Lake Geneva from 15 to 17 June and brings together the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Japan and the European Union. Trump celebrates his 80th birthday on Sunday, 14 June, in Washington, and said a possible US-Iran deal could be reached over the weekend in Europe.

On the sidelines of the broader conflict, six people were killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon and ten people were injured in an attack near a hospital in Lebanon, while three people were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. Slovenia has ended its arms embargo against Israel and lifted its entry ban on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, according to the STA news agency, moves that highlight the wider regional reverberations of the US-Iran escalation.

Despite renewed mutual airstrikes, negotiations over a peace agreement are said to continue and even make progress. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US naval blockade of Iranian ships and ports would remain fully in place until a final agreement was reached. The news was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on 11 June 2026, and the article is dated Washington and Tehran, indicating reporting from both capitals.