Middle East Eye ran an exclusive yesterday claiming that Trump postponed a planned attack on Iran this week after being warned by Gulf allies and his own officials not to resume the war during the Hajj pilgrimage. Two unnamed senior Gulf officials told MEE that Trump was told that attacking Iran during the Hajj pilgrimage would lead to a crisis within Gulf states, as it would leave hundreds of thousands of pilgrims stranded. The sources also said that Trump was told that attacking during the holy period, which leads up to the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, would further damage Washington’s standing in the Muslim world.
A senior US official, said to be familiar with discussions taking place within the Trump administration, confirmed to MEE that the conversations had taken place. They said that the US president had been warned by his own officials that resuming the US-Israeli war now would cause serious “reputational damage” for Trump.
All three also said they expected the war to resume in the coming weeks, once the Hajj period passes. MEE notes that “The US has in the past used false signalling and other ruses in order to try and lull the Iranians into a false sense of security.”
Trump, meanwhile, left the world guessing as to what he’ll do and when he’ll do it. He said yesterday that he is in no rush to make decisions on Iran and the resumption of full-scale shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, giving the parties involved time to try to reach an agreement with Tehran again. “We’d have to open the strait. That would open immediately,” the US leader told reporters. “So we’re going to give this one shot. I’m in no hurry,” Trump added, referring to a new attempt to reach an agreement with Tehran.
“If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly,” he told reporters, commenting on the possibility of resuming US strikes. “We’re all ready to go. We have to get the right answers. It would have to be a complete 100% good answers, and if we do, we save a lot of time, energy, and lives, most importantly,” he said. When asked for how long the US was ready to wait, he replied that “it could be a few days.”
Trump also said Washington had no plans of easing its sanctions on Iran before a bilateral peace deal is concluded. “I’m not doing any relief until they sign an agreement,” Trump said. “We haven’t offered anything.”
