Trump Rules Out Iran Strike for Now But Says Decision on Deal or Military Action Is Imminent

President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that the United States would not strike Iran that day, walking back suggestions from the previous day that an attack could come as soon as Monday, but framed the pause as a narrowing window before a final choice. Speaking to Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said it is "getting to be decision time" and posed the choice in stark terms: "I have a decision to make: Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? That's all. We don't play games." Trump has previously suggested that strikes could resume after the November 3 midterm elections and has sent additional forces, including a third aircraft carrier group, toward the Persian Gulf, where the USS George Washington carrier strike group has been rearming with bunker-buster bombs in the Arabian Sea.

Diplomatic efforts ran in parallel with the military signaling. Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran on Sunday in a coordinated effort with Washington to de-escalate tensions, conveying Trump's demands to Iranian officials. Iran's posture remained unyielding: a senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera that Washington's rejection of Iran's conditions, including an end to the naval blockade, release of frozen assets, and a regional ceasefire, was the central obstacle. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran had not left the negotiating table and that messages were being passed through intermediaries, but also said the US "insists on its unilateral demands." An Iranian parliament official called talks "meaningless" until Washington accepted Iran's conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added a parallel pressure point, appearing at an Arrow missile defense battery to warn that Israel has intelligence indicating Iran and its proxies may attempt attacks to disrupt Tuesday's Israeli elections, vowing that any such attempt would meet "a decisive blow." Axios reported that Netanyahu has been pressing Trump for additional public shows of support ahead of that vote, including proposing specific "linguistic formulations" for Trump's statements and suggesting Trump conduct outreach to Israeli journalists, moves the White House privately characterized as "a sign of desperation." Iran separately warned Germany that all German military bases and facilities in the region would become legitimate targets if Berlin openly joined military operations against Iran.