The US military was three hours away from striking Iran when US President Donald Trump announced that a deal with Tehran had been agreed upon and canceled a planned attack, NBC reported on Thursday, citing two US officials familiar with the matter.
According to the officials, the military had received orders from Trump to attack Iran Thursday night, and that US Navy ships had already adjusted their operations and readied munitions for the strikes when they were called off.
Per the officials, the planned strikes were meant to be “very similar” to those that happened on Wednesday.
Iran’s Kharg Island was also not on the target list, the officials added, despite Trump’s earlier threats of military action.
In fact, the two noted to NBC that the US military had for months readied plans to strike and invade Kharg Island should it ever become necessary, though the president had never approved the plans.
The US had last struck the island in April, targeting military infrastructure, including Kharg’s air defenses.
According to one of the officials, Trump’s early Thursday threat to strike Kharg Island didn’t align with “any of the planning or action” the US military had prepared to take on.
However, even with the threat, the officials claimed that the military had been “even more surprised by Trump’s post canceling the strikes than they were by his comments about big strikes coming tonight and taking Kharg Island.”
Two other officials shared with NBC that the cancellation of the strikes had happened after Trump had met with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine to discuss options on Iran.
Trump says agreement with Iran approved by all parties involved
Trump announced that he had canceled scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran on Thursday night, after a deal with Iran had been agreed upon.
The deal was approved “both in concept and great detail” by all involved parties, including the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and multiple other Middle Eastern countries, Trump wrote.
The blockade will remain in place until the deal is finalized, Trump said, adding that a military operation against Iran’s Kharg Island is off the table for now.
No date was given for the signing, but Trump said it could happen this weekend in Europe, with US Vice President JD Vance set to attend.
Notably, Israeli sources told Channel 12 that Israel does not recognize reaching an agreement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Thursday night, as Trump confirmed in comments to the press. Reportedly, Trump’s announcement took Netanyahu by surprise, CNN reported.
However, the Prime Minister’s office said that Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for Trump’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement with Iran, which “will include the removal of enriched nuclear material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and an end to Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”
Israel is not part of the US’s memorandum of understanding with Iran.
Danya Saperstein, Amichai Stein, Yonah Jeremy Bob, Ariella Roitman, and Reuters contributed to this report.
