Trump Cancels Strikes Against Iran Planned for Thursday Evening

UNITED STATES – U.S. President Donald Trump said he’s called off new military strikes on Iran on Thursday, hours after threatening to hit Iran, “very hard tonight” and assume total control of the Islamic Republic’s oil and gas industries.

In a social media post, Trump credited progress in discussions with high-level Iranian leadership as cause for the sudden change.

He also suggested that progress has been made in talks to extend the fragile ceasefire.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S and Iran traded strikes, pushing the Middle East closer to the resumption of a full-scale war.

It was the third time this week that back-and-forth strikes have rattled the Middle East.