Trump Backpedals on Planned Iran Strikes, Citing Deal Progress

World Brief FP’s flagship daily , catching you up on 24 hours of news in five minutes. But Iranian news reports that Tehran has not yet agreed to a deal. An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief writer Alexandra Sharp , the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation at the White House. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation at the White House in Washington on June 11. Kent Nishimura/AFP via June 11, 2026, PM Analysis and news. Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at canceled U. S. strikes on Iran, the resignation of British Defense Minister John Healey, and mass protests in Albania against a proposed luxury resort. President Donald Trump signaled on Thursday that a deal to end the Iran war could be announced shortly, canceling planned strikes mere hours after foreshadowing them. But with the White House’s history of saying that an agreement is imminent only for Tehran to deny Trump’s claims, it remains unclear just how close Washington actually is to securing a deal. Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at canceled U. S. strikes on Iran, the resignation of British Defense Minister John Healey, and mass protests in Albania against a proposed luxury resort. President Donald Trump signaled on Thursday that a deal to end the Iran war could be announced shortly, canceling planned strikes mere hours after foreshadowing them. But with the White House’s history of saying that an agreement is imminent only for Tehran to deny Trump’s claims, it remains unclear just how close Washington actually is to securing a deal. EDT, Trump wrote on Truth Social that at “some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets.” Kharg Island is a small, strategically important island in the Persian Gulf through which 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports flow. S. president compared looming action against the island on Thursday to the U. S. military’s operations in Venezuela, and he vowed to launch another round of “VERY HARD” strikes on Iran later that night. But just five hours later, at p. m., Trump reversed course (or, TACOed). “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump posted.