Evan Vucci/Reuters
US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he called off planned strikes on Iran, adding later that officials from Washington and Tehran will meet for talks later today. Iran has denied it is having discussions with the US.
This is not the first time during the conflict that Trump has threatened attacks then called them off.
Here’s a look at some of the previous times this has happened:
- On March 21, Trump said the US would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. On March 23, shortly before Trump’s deadline was set to expire, the president said the US and Iran had held “productive conversations” and that he would hold off on striking energy sites for five days.
- On April 7, Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not agree to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Hours later, a two-week ceasefire between the countries was announced.
- On April 21, the day before the ceasefire was set to expire, Trump said he expected “to be bombing” if negotiators couldn’t reach a deal. Later that day, he extended the ceasefire.
- On May 17, Trump warned that “for Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.” The next day, he said that he would “hold off” on a plan to attack Iran, citing a request from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- On June 11, Trump said that the US military would be hitting Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” adding that it would also “be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points.” Hours later, Trump said he was canceling the strikes because “final points” of an agreement between the two sides had been approved.
- On August 1, Trump said the US was “locked and loaded and ready” to attack Iran “at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II.” Despite this, he said, “I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
CNN’s Izzy Lippolis, Alejandra Jaramillo, Kevin Liptak, Aileen Graef, Kit Maher, Betsy Klein, Alayna Treene and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this reporting.
