Trump Calls Off Iran Strikes Hours After Threatening New Bombings

Markets rallied after Trump said planned military action against Iran had been canceled following high-level negotiations involving multiple regional powers.

• Trump said talks had reached the “highest level of Iranian leadership,” leading to the cancellation of scheduled attacks.
• The president said several countries, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt, had approved the framework of the discussions.
• Earlier in the day, Trump had warned of hitting Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and floated taking control of Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had called off planned strikes against Iran, just hours after threatening additional bombings and expressing a desire to take control of the country’s key oil export hub, Kharg Island.

U.S. equities tracking major benchmark indexes gained right after Trump’s announcement.

Talks With The ‘Highest Level Of Iranian Leadership’

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he had canceled the planned military strikes against Iran after discussions were elevated to the country’s top leadership and received approval.

Trump said the talks had reached “the highest level of Iranian leadership” and that the “scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran” had been called off as a result.

He added, “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others.”

Trump also said the naval blockade would remain “in full force and effect” until the agreement is finalized, adding that details regarding the signing would be announced shortly. 

Trump’s Earlier Warning

Just hours before announcing that the planned strikes had been called off, Trump struck a far more aggressive tone on Truth Social. In the post, he warned that the U.S. would hit Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and suggested Washington would move to take control of key Iranian oil assets, including Kharg Island.

He said the U.S. would “assume total control” of Iran’s oil and gas markets. He also reiterated his intention to take over Kharg Island, one of Iran’s most important oil export hubs.

Trump pointed to the U.S. takeover of Venezuela’s oil production as a model, claiming the arrangement had worked well for both countries.

SPY, QQQ, DIA: What Retail Sentiment Says

Markets rallied sharply following Trump’s announcement, with major U.S. indexes posting strong gains.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 1.3%. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) had gained 2.4%, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) was 1.6% higher as of 2:30 pm, ET. 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was ‘bearish’ for SPY, DIA, and QQQ. 

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