President Donald Trump suspended U.S. military operations against Iran to allow for diplomacy, a White House official told MBN on Monday, adding that Washington remains prepared to resort to force again if Tehran escalates its actions.
The official said Iran had “begged the United States” to halt the devastating strikes and is now seeking an agreement.
Responding to MBN’s question about why U.S. military operations had been halted, the official said: “Iran begged the United States to halt the devastating strikes, and they are desperate for a deal. President Trump has said he prefers a diplomatic solution, but he retains all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the Strait of Hormuz or against our allies.”
U.S. military operations against Iran have been suspended since Friday, following 13 days of intensive airstrikes. The pause coincided with mediation efforts by Oman and Pakistan aimed at bringing both sides back to the negotiating table.
Several media reports have offered differing explanations for the halt. The Wall Street Journal reported that the campaign had been paused because of ammunition shortages, while the Washington Post said senior U.S. military commanders had advised Trump against expanding the strikes because of the significant risks involved and concerns over dwindling weapons stockpiles.
In a statement provided to the Washington Post and shared with MBN by the White House, the president dismissed the reports outright.
“The article is totally false,” Trump said. “We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need… Our defense companies are, at this moment, making more munitions than they have ever made before, in addition to expanding their plants and equipment at record levels.”
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday that Trump had temporarily suspended the military campaign to create an opening for negotiations.
Fred Fleitz, a former National Security Council official during Trump’s first administration, told MBN that the current atmosphere appeared “promising,” suggesting that both sides were testing the prospects for peace through third-party mediators.
Fleitz said Tehran had announced that it would halt its attacks, while Trump said he was giving diplomacy a chance. “I don’t know if this is going to hold out, but there’s a little bit of hope,” he stated, referring to the possibility of reaching an agreement that would end the hostilities and restore full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Mark Kimmitt told MBN that President Donald Trump would not allow ammunition supplies to become an obstacle to military operations. He declined to comment on whether there were any indications that military operations could expand in the future, saying such information was “classified.”
Jacob Stoil, an academic in the U.S. Army War College’s Department of Strategic Studies, views Tehran’s actions in regional waterways as part of a deliberate strategy to rewrite the rules of transit and consolidate its control. Speaking in a personal capacity and based on his own research, rather than official U.S. policy, Stoil said Iran wants the current arrangement to become permanent.
“Iran’s goal is to have the status quo become the de facto reality,” Stoil told MBN. “And what I mean by that is their goal is that every shipping company and every country who wants to do business within the Strait of Hormuz and trans-ship through the Strait of Hormuz has to get Iranian approval and potentially pay them.”
He warned that a policy of “quiet for quiet” would fail to disrupt this trajectory. Every day the standoff continues without a formal agreement, Stoil said, “Iran perceives it’s cementing its de facto position.”
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
