Trump Messaged Iran With Last Second Opening For Talks Just Before Calling Off Strikes: Report
More dramatic details have trickled out this morning surrounding last night’s US military strike operations on Iran, which were reportedly called off at the last moment by President Trump even as American ships and missile batteries were in position, even including planes in the air ready for an assault.
According to a new Reuters report, Iranian officials say they had received a message from the White House notifying that a major attack was on Iran was imminent but that President Trump “was against war and wanted talks on a range of issues”.
The New York Times and WSJ reported of the called off attack, citing a handful of senior officials, that the president was prepared to attack a number of Iranian targets, including radar and missile batteries. However, he eventually gave the word to stand down, with the NYT reporting that Trump chose to pull US military forces back.
Oil Extends Surge After Drone Strike Fuels U.S.-Iran Tensions
Reuters says the message was delivered via Oman mediators overnight and it was revealed quickly after Trump had called of the strikes. “In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues,”one of the unnamed Iranian officials told Reuters.
“He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei to decide about this issue,” the source said.
And Reuters cites a second Iranian official, who said: “We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision.” The official added, “However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…