Here's the latest
• Strikes called off: US President Donald Trump announced he is canceling a planned attack on Iran, citing progress in talks. He said the pause is contingent on “being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran, people familiar with the matter said.
• Iran FM on war: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran would respond forcefully to any further American “aggression,” in calls with regional counterparts.
• Travel warning: The State Department earlier cautioned Americans in the Middle East, saying they should consider departing now. It also renewed warnings that those in the region should “be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions.”
Gulf nations could suffer more if Trump went ahead with attack on Iran, analyst says
If US President Donald Trump pressed ahead with attacks on Iran, it would deal further blows to the Gulf nations already on the receiving end of Tehran’s counterattacks, a political analyst told CNN Sunday.
Trump announced he was canceling planned strikes on Iran late Saturday evening, citing progress in talks. Earlier, CNN reported that Trump held a call with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the crown prince raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran.
“I think the Saudis don’t have confidence that the US has a winning military strategy,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “All that would lead to is more suffering for them without actually changing the facts on the ground or changing the direction of this conflict.”
“It’s all loss, no gain,” he said, adding that “they know that type of escalation will only lead to a counter-escalation by the Iranians in which they see GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states will be the biggest victims.”
Trump's latest pullback comes as US forces face increasing strains
Once again US President Donald Trump has pulled back from a threatened escalation of US strikes on Iran.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that the US military was “locked and loaded and ready” to unleash “levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” but decided to call off strikes as Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries asked to “hold off any attack.”
Analysts noted the economic pressure the war has put on US allies around the region as to why they’d like to see hostilities stop. And they noted Iran faces those same economic hardships as well as a military that has been severely degraded by over five months of war.
But it’s also a military that retains a punch, as demonstrated by deadly strikes on US forces in the region in the past month.
Meanwhile, the US military is facing some tough questions about its ability to defend US forces as stocks of Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors are becoming increasingly stretched.
A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies last week found the US inventory of Patriot interceptors, the prime defensive missile in the American arsenal, was at about a third of its pre-war level, from 2,330 to between 759 and 827 as of July 27.
THAAD interceptors, designed to hit ballistic missiles well before they near their targets, are down from 452 before the war to 278 or fewer now, according to the CSIS report.
The expenditure of those munitions goes along with other losses of materiel, including fighter jets, airborne early warning and reconnaissance planes, helicopters and drones.
At sea, US naval assets have seen extended deployments, which can push back needed maintenance and repairs.
“For an expansive, modern, and highly capable military like the US joint force, readiness hits are cumulative, while trade-offs are immediate,” Ariane Tabatabai, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, wrote in June.
Almost two months later, the US joint force has been stretched even further, leading to questions on whether it can deliver a knockout blow in the war.
Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said on CNN Sunday that Iran has been able to keep fighting back every time the US increases military pressure – and could probably do so again.
“The bottom line is: Trump does not have an escalatory way out of this conflict,” Parsi said.
CNN analyst: Saudis and Iran faced pressure to avoid escalation
Announcing the cancellation of the planned strikes on Iran, US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran and “other Middle Eastern countries” asked him to hold off.
Earlier in the day, sources told CNN that Trump spoke with the Saudi crown prince, who raised concerns about potential new US attacks.
CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, a former US Air Force colonel, said both Riyadh and Tehran need to avoid an escalation of hostilities in the region.
The Saudis are under pressure to get the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of their oil and other exports flow, reopened, Leighton said. “They’re economically at risk here,” he said.
Leighton noted that the Saudis, as a key US ally in the Persian Gulf, carry significant sway with Trump.
Iran is also facing economic challenges from the closure of the strait, according to Leighton.
But the military pressure on Tehran – after more than five months of war – has been taking a toll, he said, and the Iranians could use some relief.
“If it’s true that … there was pressure from Iran, then I think the Iranians are probably buying some time,” he said.
“They are certainly under some degree of pressure economically as well as militarily. But I also know that they are ready to, in essence, survive as much as they can,” Leighton said.
Latest in the Middle East: Trump says he's canceling new Iran attack
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he is canceling a planned attack on Iran, citing progress in talks.
His comments came as no strikes have been reported from the US inside Iran in several days. US officials previously said fresh strikes could take place as soon as this weekend.
Trump said he agreed to requests by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that he hold off from further attacks, and that the pause remains contingent on “being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” Earlier, CNN reported that Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a call with the president and raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
A look at the latest headlines:
- US diplomatic officials renewed their warnings to American citizens in the Middle East, saying they should exercise caution and vigilance amid heightened tensions in the region.
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that the country would respond forcefully to any further American “aggression.” In calls with regional counterparts on Saturday, he said Iran would respond in kind to any “adventurous action” by the United States.
- Iran also warned Gulf states that host American military bases, with Major Gen. Ali Abdollahi threatening that nations cooperating with the US “will burn in the fires of war.”
- A teenager arrested in January during widespread anti-regime protests in Iran was executed Saturday, according to a US-based activist organization.
- Global oil and gas prices have been rising again following renewed tensions between the US and Iran. The average price of gas in the US was over $4 on Saturday.
- Israeli strikes on Gaza left a huge crater at a hospital, local authorities said, days after Trump announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to advance a ceasefire plan. Israel said it targeted Hamas weapon storage facilities in strikes across the Palestinian enclave.
CNN’s Izzy Lippolis, Jennifer Hansler, Sophie Tanno, Max Saltman, Abeer Salman, Ibrahim Dahman, Brad Lendon, Aida Karimi, Kevin Liptak and Zachary Cohen contributed reporting.
Sources: Trump speaks with Saudi crown prince amid push for resolution to US-Iran war
President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on Saturday, according to four people familiar with the matter and a regional source.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman reinforced Saudi Arabia’s desire for de-escalation during the call and raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran, multiple people familiar with the matter said.
Officials from mediating nations, including Qatar and Pakistan, have been urgently working to stave off a new escalation in the conflict, fielding calls with officials from Iran and the United States, including Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, according to three people familiar with the matter.
An immediate goal has been to work out an arrangement between Iran and Oman to allow commercial traffic to resume flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.
CNN previously reported that the US was planning fresh strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, citing two officials familiar with the plans.
“We will be hitting them very hard,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Friday. “At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”
Earlier in the week, US and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple sites in Iraq after drones were launched from Iranian-backed militias there toward Saudi Arabia.
Foreign minister: Iran will respond in kind to any “adventurous action” by US
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran would respond forcefully to any further American “aggression” in calls with regional counterparts on Saturday.
Araghchi held separate calls with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to posts on the Iranian foreign minister’s Telegram channel, warning that Iran would respond in kind to any “adventurous action” by the United States.
Fidan also noted the call on his social media, writing that the two officials “discussed the latest status of the ongoing negotiation process.”
In a post reporting a call with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Araghchi said that Iran would respond decisively and proportionally to “any aggression” from the US, Israel or other countries in the region.
Last week, Araghchi wrote on social media that Iran’s defense strategy is an “eye for an eye” response against any attacks on its infrastructure.
State Department warns US citizens in the Middle East: Consider departing
The US State Department has broadly warned Americans in the Middle East to “consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation.”
The State Department also renewed warnings that those in the region should “exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions.”
US citizens planning to travel to the Middle East should seriously reconsider, the advisory said.
Gaza hospital warehouses destroyed in Israeli strikes
Israeli strikes on Gaza left a huge crater at a hospital less than 48 hours after US President Donald Trump announced Hamas and Israel had agreed to advance a ceasefire plan, local authorities said. The attack destroyed vital medical supplies, demolished two medical warehouses at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and damaged two others, according to Gaza's health ministry. CNN's Abeer Salman reports.
Israel says it targeted Hamas weapon storage facilities in overnight strikes across Gaza, including one that left a huge crater at a hospital in central Gaza.
Video from the scene showed medical supplies strewn across a wide area, as well as damage to multiple canvas tents and metal structures.
In a statement, the Israeli military alleged Kalashnikov rifles, explosive devices and other military equipment were stored at the locations, and said a storage facility adjacent to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital — the site of the large crater — was used “as a hideout by Hamas terrorists.”
CNN is unable to verify that the structure was being used by Hamas. When asked to back up the claim, an Israeli military source told CNN, “We unfortunately have no evidence to provide, the strike happened based on intelligence information.”
A nurse who works at the hospital told CNN he was shocked to find the warehouse completely destroyed, as it had contained crucial dialysis supplies provided by UNICEF just three days previously.
A humanitarian source said two containers storing dialysis supplies were destroyed, affecting more than 1,000 patients.
Hospitals in Gaza are already facing massive shortages in vital medical supplies as humanitarian organizations struggle to deliver resources into the enclave.
CNN’s Farida Elsebai contributed reporting.
A look at areas controlled by Israel's military within Gaza
The conflict in Gaza was thrust into greater focus this week when US President Donald Trump announced a potential breakthrough in diplomatic efforts. Key questions remain, however, and Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday have added further uncertainty to the state of the agreement.
Here’s a closer look at the control of territory in the Palestinian enclave:
Trump says US canceling planned attack on Iran
President Donald Trump said Saturday night that the US is canceling a planned attack on Iran, citing progress in talks.
Trump said the US “is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but that he agreed to requests by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries “to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”
Trump said the proposed agreement would include the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.” He added that Israel joins him in the pause in strikes, which remains contingent on “being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for more details.
Trump’s comments come as no strikes have been reported from the US inside Iran in several days, after the US launched what the president described as a “heavy wave of strikes” targeting the country Wednesday.
