Trump says ‘nobody convinced me’ to hold off on Iran strikes

Earlier this month, Trump warned that the United States would strike Iran if protesters were executed, placing the prospect of military action squarely on the table.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

President Donald Trump said Friday that his decision not to launch military strikes against Iran was driven solely by his own judgment, citing Tehran’s alleged cancellation of hundreds of planned executions and rejecting suggestions that Israeli or Arab officials influenced the move.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump was asked whether pressure from regional partners had led him to step back from an attack.

He dismissed that claim outright. “Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself,” Trump said, pointing to reports that Iranian authorities had called off executions scheduled for the previous day.

“You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn’t hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact.”

Trump earlier made the same point publicly on his Truth Social platform, thanking Iran’s leadership for what he described as canceling more than 800 executions planned for Wednesday.

The White House subsequently said those executions had been halted, following Trump’s statement earlier in the week that he had been informed the killing of protesters had stopped.

Iran has not publicly confirmed that it planned to execute hundreds of detainees, even as authorities have continued a sweeping crackdown on unrest that erupted in late December over economic grievances and evolved into open challenges to the Islamic Republic’s leadership.

The repression has left several thousand people dead, according to various reports, and has sharply reduced the scale of demonstrations.

Earlier this month, Trump warned that the United States would strike Iran if protesters were executed, placing the prospect of military action squarely on the table.

His remarks on Friday marked the clearest indication yet that he views the reported pause in executions as sufficient, for now, to justify restraint.

Two Hebrew-language media outlets reported Friday that Jerusalem believes US military action has not been definitively ruled out.

Channel 12 said the option of a strike remains possible, while Kan reported that any decision would depend on how diplomatic efforts unfold.

Kan also reported that Israeli officials assess the United States currently lacks enough military assets in the region to achieve regime change in Iran, should that be the objective. During an initial call between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu reportedly asked for more time to prepare Israel for potential retaliation if Iran were attacked.