Trump Postpones Iran Attack at Request of Gulf Leaders

US President Donald Trump says an attack on Iran that was "scheduled for tomorrow" has been postponed at the request of gulf state leaders.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said he was asked by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to hold off on the attack because "serious negotiations are now taking place".

"In their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made," Mr Trump wrote.

"Based on my respect for the above mentioned Leaders, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow."

But Mr Trump said he had "further instructed them 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".

A ceasefire in the US–Israel–Iran war has been in place since April 8, but Mr Trump has repeatedly used social media to threaten more attacks.

When he announced the ceasefire, Mr Trump said it was subject to Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

But the vital shipping route remains effectively shut down and Iran has threatened shipping companies they will be attacked if they try to cross the strait.

The US has blockaded Iranian ports in response.

American efforts to extract a "deal" from Iran have yielded no breakthroughs and Mr Trump last week described the ceasefire as being on "life support".

The war has been damaging to Mr Trump's approval rating among US voters.

A New York Times poll out earlier on Monday, local time, showed it had fallen to 37 per cent. That represents a 4 per cent drop since January.

No president's approval rating has been below 38 per cent for more than a few days in the past 17 years, the Times reported.

Sixty-four per cent of poll respondents said Mr Trump's decision to go to war with Iran was the wrong decision, and 65 per cent disapproved of his handling of the war.

The US and Iran have not held direct talks since April 12, though various proposals have been exchanged via mediators.

Several hours before his social media announcement, Mr Trump insisted — as he has frequently in recent weeks — that Iran wanted to make a deal.

He has said any deal would require a guarantee that Iran would not pursue obtaining a nuclear weapon.