United States President Donald Trump says he has cancelled a planned large-scale military attack on Iran, claiming that the “perimeters of a deal” have been agreed upon.

Trump announced the decision on his Truth Social platform late on Saturday, a day after US media reported that Washington and Israel were preparing to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 2US embassies issue alerts after Trump vows to hit Iran ‘hard’
• list 2 of 2Iran warns against ‘flames of war’ amid US strike threats on energy sites

He said his decision came in response to requests from Iran and other countries in the region to “hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has [sic] been agreed to”. He agreed on condition that the deal be concluded quickly.

Trump claimed the agreement would bring the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT” and end what he called “Iran’s nuclear threat”.

There was no immediate response from Tehran. Earlier on Saturday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Saudi counterpart that any US or Israeli attack would meet a “proportionate response”.

US news site Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump on Saturday, urging the president to cancel the strikes and return to negotiations, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Trump had said on Friday that the US would hit Iran “very hard”.

On Saturday, the US Department of State issued security alerts for US citizens in 10 countries in the region, urging them to exercise increased caution and to consider leaving due to the escalating tensions.