Iran denies asking US not to strike, says Trump lied

US President Donald Trump said he had halted a planned military attack on Iran. According to Trump, the decision was made in expectation of a breakthrough in negotiations on Iran's nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump claimed that Iran and other countries in the region had requested a pause in the strikes. However, Iranian officials disputed this claim, saying that Trump's assertion was "nothing but a new lie" and that the Iranian armed forces were "on high alert and ready for any eventuality".

Negotiations between the US and Iran were set to begin on Monday, Trump said. He added that the scale of the planned strikes would have been "the biggest attack since World War II" and that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had urged against the strikes, warning of possible unintended consequences.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, FXStreet, South China Morning Post, Semafor, France 24 — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.