A BBC reporter has suggested Donald Trump’s latest Iran U-turn may have more to do with his rising unpopularity with American voters than any desire to end the war.
The US president said he had called off plans to launch fresh strikes on the country because a peace deal could be in sight.
Trump claimed that the leaders of several Gulf nations had urged him not to go ahead with his plans to allow negotiations to end the conflict to continue.
His change of heart came just a day after he warned Tehran “the clock is ticking” for them to agree a peace deal.
Posting on Truth Social on Monday night, he said: “We will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed [US military chiefs] to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”
On Radio 4′s Today programme, BBC North America correspondent Peter Bowes said: “This was a somewhat unusual statement from the US president, that he had decided not to launch, as he put it, ‘a very major attack on Iran today’.
“He made this announcement on his Truth Social platform before the US markets closed. He said he’d been asked by the leaders of several Gulf allies to hold off because, he said ‘in their opinion a deal will be made that is acceptable to the United States as well as all countries in the Middle East and beyond’.
“Mr Trump went on to say that ‘serious negotiations are underway’ but he reiterated, as he’s been saying all along, that this deal must include no nuclear weapons for Iran.
“This raises many questions about the actual status of any talks, which the president didn’t elaborate on.”
He said the president was sending out “lots of mixed messages” on the war, which he suggested may be partly driven by his negative poll ratings.
“He said the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and some others had asked for the attack to be put off for two or three days,” said Bowed.
“That’s quite a narrow window for any negotiations to result in a deal, but equally he is facing pressure in this country.
“The latest opinion polls are very negative towards the president, not only in terms of his overall performance, but especially in the way he has conducted this war.”
Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
