Trump says US may attack Iran again but that Tehran wants deal

WASHINGTON/DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States may need to attack Iran again and was an hour away before delaying the attack.

Trump spoke to reporters at the White House a day after saying Tehran was pausing the planned resumption of hostilities following its new proposal to end the US-Israeli war.

“I was an hour away from making the decision to leave today,” Trump said Tuesday.

He said that Iranian leaders begged for an agreement and added that if no agreement is reached, a new attack by the USA could occur in the coming days.

“I mean, I mean two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday or something, maybe a limited period at the beginning of next week, because we can’t let them have another nuclear weapon.”

In Tehran, Ibrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, told X that pausing the attack was due to Trump’s realization that any move against Iran would mean “facing a decisive military response.”

Iranian state media said Tehran’s latest peace offer included an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, the withdrawal of US forces from areas close to Iran and compensation for the destruction caused by US-Israeli attacks.

Tehran also demanded the lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen funds and the end of the US naval blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibabadi, quoted by IRNA news agency.

The terms described in the Iran reports appear to have changed little from Iran’s previous offer, which Trump rejected as “garbage” last week.

PAKISTAN SOURCE SAID THAT BOTH SIDES ‘CHANGED THEIR TARGET POSTS’

Reuters could not determine whether military preparations were being made for attacks that would mark a renewal of the war Trump launched in late February.

It is under pressure to reach a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key supply route for global oil and other commodities. Trump has previously expressed hope that an agreement would be reached to end the conflict and has similarly threatened to attack Iran if an agreement is not reached.

Trump said on Monday that Washington would be pleased if a deal was reached that would prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“It seems like there’s a very good chance they can figure something out. If we can do it without bombing them, I’d be very happy,” Trump told reporters.

A Pakistani source confirmed that Islamabad, which has been relaying messages between the parties since hosting the single round of peace talks last month, shared Iran’s proposal with Washington.

The Pakistani source stated that the parties “continue to change their goals” and said, “We do not have much time.”

US-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before a ceasefire was declared in early April.

Israel killed thousands more people and expelled hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in Lebanon, which it occupied in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Iran’s attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf states have killed dozens of people.

The ceasefire in Iran has largely remained in place, but drones have recently been launched from Iraq into Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, apparently by Iran and its allies.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they launched the war to thwart Iran’s support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities and create conditions for Iranians to overthrow their rulers.

But the war has not yet deprived Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium or the ability to threaten its neighbors with missiles, drones and proxy militias.

Facing a mass uprising at the beginning of the year, the Islamic Republic’s religious leadership resisted the superpower’s onslaught with no signs of organized opposition.

Trump spoke Tuesday, shortly after his administration imposed sanctions on Iran’s foreign exchange, saying it was front companies that oversee transactions on behalf of Iranian banks.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Peter Graff and Andrew Cawthorne)