US, Israel to pause Iran strikes, says Trump

US President Donald Trump has announced that the US and Israel will pause strikes on Iran if a deal is rapidly reached to end the conflict. According to Trump, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries have asked for time to complete a deal that would lead to the immediate, complete, and total reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran's nuclear threat.

The announcement comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran would act decisively in the event of any further US aggression. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had also targeted a US F-35 repair hangar and ramp at Al-Azraq Base in Jordan with multiple ballistic missiles.

However, Iran's Mehr news agency denied Trump's claim that the Islamic republic asked the US to refrain from conducting new strikes, calling the allegation "nothing but a new lie". Iran's Fars news agency also cited a source close to Iranian negotiators as saying that as long as the US maintains its hostile actions, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Egypt Independent, The National UAE, Middle East Eye, Free Malaysia Today — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.