Is Trump backing off on striking Iran?

The shift is especially striking given Trump’s rhetoric just days earlier, when he adopted one of his most confrontational public stances toward Iran’s leadership.

By World Israel News Staff

After a night of intense speculation, signals on Thursday suggested the United States was stepping back from the brink, despite earlier indications that military action against Iran could be imminent.

Iranian and Arab officials said Washington had conveyed that it does not intend to carry out a strike, with an Iranian official telling Al Jazeera that President Donald Trump personally informed Tehran of that position and urged restraint.

Reuters reported that security alert levels at the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar were lowered and that aircraft and personnel moved out amid the tensions began returning, reinforcing signs of a pause.

A report by Agence France-Presse, citing a Saudi official, suggested regional diplomacy played a role in the shift, saying Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman had urged Trump to give Iran additional time, effectively persuading Washington to allow another window for developments to unfold.

The apparent shift followed hours of heightened anxiety late Wednesday and into early Thursday, when reports of U.S. military movements, Iran’s closure of its airspace, and sharply reduced commercial flight traffic fueled fears of an imminent confrontation.

The shift is especially striking given Trump’s rhetoric just days earlier, when he adopted one of his most confrontational public stances toward Iran’s leadership. At the time, he urged Iranians to sustain nationwide protests and directly challenged the regime’s grip on power.

“Patriots of Iran, keep protesting. Take over your institutions,” Trump wrote, warning that those responsible for killing demonstrators “will pay a heavy price.” He also said he had canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the “senseless killing of protesters” ends, adding pointedly, “Help is on the way.”

Casualty figures from the unrest remain difficult to verify amid severe restrictions on information. The human rights group HRANA said at least 2,000 people have been killed nationwide, including 1,847 protesters and 135 members of regime forces, with more than 16,700 arrests reported.

Sources cited by CBS News have estimated far higher tolls, ranging from at least 12,000 deaths to as many as 20,000.

By Thursday morning, however, Trump pointed to what he described as positive developments, posting that an Iranian protester would no longer face execution following U.S. warnings. Calling it “good news,” he said he hoped the trend would continue.

Whether the dramatic buildup reflected a last-minute change in plans, a deliberate show of force, or a calculated feint remains unclear. For now, the episode has left the region with fewer immediate signs of escalation, but with lingering uncertainty over what comes next.