Trump Pauses Iran Strikes; Talks Ongoing as US Weighs Next Steps
President Trump directed the US military to pause strikes on Iran on Friday, breaking a nearly two-week streak of daily attacks, according to two sources. The decision followed a meeting where CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper recommended stopping the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz, citing limited effectiveness. Private deliberations also focused on the Pentagon's shrinking inventory of Patriot interceptors. A senior US official told the New York Times that resuming major combat was unlikely to push Iran to negotiate and had instead kept Iran cohesive. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Trump is giving talks 'some space.' A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the US does the same, though Tehran holds little hope of a major shift in US negotiating position. Meanwhile, an oil tanker exploded after hitting a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, and Houthi attacks on Saudi Aramco sites reduced ship traffic through Bab-el-Mandeb. US intelligence believes Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is more interested in pursuing a nuclear weapon than his predecessor. The US and UK are planning a high-level meeting in London this week on a potential international coalition to protect maritime shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
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