US president may hold fire on Iran unless provoked
• Sympathetic to allies urging restraint; Saudi crown prince, Erdogan press Trump not to resume war • Mines hit three ships in Strait of Hormuz in two days; UN official urges Iran, US to let fertiliser shipments pass
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has told senior advisers in recent days that he may hold off on attacking Iran if the US faces no new provocations from Tehran or the Houthis in Yemen, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Trump has alternated between threatening new strikes and winding down hostilities since launching the conflict with Israel in February, and officials say he does not appear to have made up his mind about how to resolve it.
In meetings with national security advisers and after intelligence briefings, he said he was considering holding off on strikes and indicated sympathy for regional allies urging against full-fledged war, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
His private comments build on public remarks playing down the likelihood of major warfare resuming.
“I could end it immediately, but at the request of the nations that I am looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer way, a bit more civilly,” Trump told sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith on Thursday.
Among those urging restraint are Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who in phone calls over the past two weeks urged Trump not to resume attacks, arguing economic sanctions are working, officials familiar with the discussions said.
Trump told the Saudi crown prince on Oct 31 he planned to attack after the elections, but the crown prince pleaded for restraint.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the naval blockade and sanctions are hurting Iran’s economy, while renewed strikes would not shift Tehran’s negotiating demands, two US officials said.
While Israeli officials continue to lobby for another military campaign, Trump signalled this week he may not need one.
Still, the Pentagon remains positioned to escalate. A third aircraft carrier is moving into the Middle East to replace one of two operating there, though all three could stay if needed, and Trump could opt to bomb Iran’s underground nuclear facilities again, though briefings warned precision munitions have drawn down.
A White House official said in a statement that Trump, as the sole decision-maker, holds all the leverage to protect US interests — backed by US control of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s collapsing economy. The official added that only the president knows what he will do next.
Even as Washington weighs its next move, volatile incidents continue in the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has restricted navigation since February and attacked noncompliant ships.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that explosions rang out on two oil tankers — including one supertanker — that had switched off their radar and positioning systems and struck a naval mine while attempting to transit the strait through an unauthorised route.
The report followed footage released on Friday showing smoke rising from a liquefied gas vessel the Guards said hit a mine in the south of the strait, bringing the tally to three vessels struck in two days.
The dual blockade of the strategic water way by US and Iran has disrupted global supply chains, prompting an urgent appeal from the United Nations on Saturday. Iran and the United States should “immediately” allow fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to ease a crisis in vulnerable countries, Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services, told the COP31 climate talks in Antalya, Turkiye.
He called for an exceptional, time-bound solution allowing five fertiliser vessels daily.
Before the conflict, a third of the world’s fertilisers passed through the strait, and prices have since risen 30pc, he said. Missing planting seasons, he warned, could leave 45 million people facing acute food insecurity.
Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2026