Trump announces when new Iran talks to begin after calling off ‘massive’ weekend attack

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – President Trump announced new talks with Tehran will begin Monday after he called off a “massive” attack on Iran that had been planned for this weekend.

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Appeals from several Gulf state allies — along with Iran itself — led Trump to stand down, he said. Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud spoke privately with the president on Saturday.

“I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, by Qatar, and by Iran,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday when asked why he scrapped the plan to strike Iran.

“We were all set to go,” he said, adding it would have been a “massive attack.”

But the Saudi crown prince reassured him that Iran was ready to make a deal.

“They thought that a deal is imminent,” Trump said, noting it would include the Strait of Hormuz and on Iran’s nuclear program.

The Trump administration has been clear he wants the strait — a critical waterway for global trade and oil shipments — open and free of tolls. They also want Tehran not to be able to access nuclear weapons.

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Trump was circumspect on whether a deal could be reached with the Iranians – negotiations between the warring countries have routinely fallen apart over internal factions within the regime reportedly at odds – when talks begin again Monday afternoon.

“A lot of times they’ll say that to me, and then they’ll go out and say we don’t know what he’s talking about,” he said.

He wouldn’t give a deadline for reaching an agreement but assured that the US military is ready to strike at any time.

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“We’re ready to go anytime we want,” he said.