Trump says he's cancelling strikes on Iran as 'perimeters of a deal' agreed

US President Donald Trump has announced he is cancelling a new attack on Iran after Tehran and a number of unspecified Middle Eastern countries asked the US to postpone strikes as the "perimeters of a deal" had been agreed."This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.He added that he had called off strikes subject to "rapidly" making a deal but warned that US forces remained "locked and loaded and ready to go.""I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL," he said, adding: "The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment."Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency later reported that unnamed Iranian military officials had rejected Trump's claim that Tehran had requested that the US stop the attack, calling it a "new lie" designed to "blackmail Persian Gulf rulers."They also said that Iranian forces remained "at the highest level of readiness," adding: "If a confrontation becomes inevitable, the battlefield will be decisive."Trump's announcement came after the US State Department issued a warning to Americans in the Middle East to be on alert amid potential escalation in the region."Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions," it said in a security update on Saturday.On Friday, Trump had said he was "losing faith" in the prospect of a peace deal and threatened to hit Iran "very hard."Strikes resumed this weekWashington and Tehran have been locked in conflict since late February, when the US and Israel carried out a series of strikes on Iran, prompting the Iranian military to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz - a vital energy transit chokepoint that carries roughly a quarter of the global seaborne oil trade.Following a brief pause in the conflict, the US and Iran resumed strikes earlier this week after Tehran launched ballistic missiles against US forces stationed in the Middle East.Washington hit back by targeting what the US military said were dozens of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) locations in Iran, including missile and drone facilities and military command centers."The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries," US Central Command said.The two nations had appeared to make progress towards a peace deal in June, with the signing of a "memorandum of understanding." The provisional agreement required an end to hostilities, the US to remove its naval blockade of Iran, and Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reaffirm that it "shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons".It gave Washington and Tehran 60 days to achieve a final deal, but ongoing strikes have cast doubt on negotiations over implementing the agreement.