WASHINGTON/DUBAI - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States may need to strike Iran again and that he had been an hour away from ordering an attack before postponing it.

Trump made the comments a day after saying he had paused a planned resumption of hostilities following a new proposal by Tehran to end the U.S.-Israeli war.

"I was an hour away from making the decision to go today," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Iran's leaders are begging for a deal, he said, adding that a new U.S. attack would happen in coming days if no agreement was reached.

The United States has been struggling to end the war it began with Israel nearly three months ago. Trump has previously said that a deal with Tehran was close, and similarly threatened heavy strikes on Iran if it did not reach an accord.

The U.S. president is under intense political pressure at home to reach an accord that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz - a key route for global supplies of oil and other commodities. Gas prices remain high and Trump's approval rating has plummeted as congressional elections loom in November.

Oil prices settled lower on Tuesday after Vice President JD Vance said Washington and Tehran had made a lot of progress in talks and neither side wanted to see a resumption of the military campaign. "We're in a pretty good spot here," he said.

Speaking to reporters at a White House briefing, Vance acknowledged difficulties in negotiating with a fractured Iranian leadership. "It's not sometimes totally clear what the negotiating position of the team is," he said, so the U.S. is trying to make its own red lines clear.

He also said one objective of Trump's policy is to prevent a nuclear arms race from spreading in the region.

IRAN PROMISES RESPONSE TO ANY NEW ATTACK

In Tehran, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said on X that pausing an attack was due to Trump's realization that any move against Iran would mean "facing a decisive military response."

Iranian state media said Tehran's latest peace proposal involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the exit of U.S. forces from areas close to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by the U.S.-Israeli attacks.

Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, release of frozen funds and an end to the U.S. marine blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as cited by IRNA news agency.

The terms as described in the Iranian reports appeared little changed from Iran's previous offer, which Trump rejected last week as "garbage."

BOTH SIDES 'CHANGING GOALPOSTS', SAYS PAKISTANI SOURCE

Reuters could not determine whether military preparations had been made for strikes that would mark a renewal of the war Trump started in late February.

Trump said on Monday that Washington would be satisfied if it could reach an agreement that prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

A Pakistani source confirmed that Islamabad, which has conveyed messages between the sides since hosting the only round of peace talks last month, had shared the Iranian proposal with Washington.

The sides "keep changing their goalposts," the Pakistani source said, adding, "We don't have much time."

CEASEFIRE MOSTLY HOLDING

The U.S.-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before it was suspended in a ceasefire in early April. Israel has killed thousands more and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Iranian strikes on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states have killed dozens of people.

The Iran ceasefire has mostly held, although drones have lately been launched from Iraq towards ⁠Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and ⁠Kuwait, apparently by Iran and its allies.

The U.S. seized an Iran-linked oil tanker in the Indian Ocean overnight, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing three U.S. officials. The tanker, known as the Skywave, was sanctioned by the U.S. in March for its role in transporting Iranian oil, the report said.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they launched the war to curb Iran's support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear programme, destroy its missile capabilities, and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers.

But the war has yet to deprive Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium or its ability to threaten neighbours with missiles, drones and proxy militias.

The Islamic Republic's clerical leadership, which had faced a mass uprising at the start of the year, withstood the superpower onslaught with no sign of organised opposition.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by William Maclean, Doina Chiacu; Editing by Peter Graff, Andrew Cawthorne and Sanjeev Miglani)

A woman walks next to a mural on a street in Tehran, Iran, May 18, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Majid-Asgaripour Reuters

People drive past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Majid Asgaripour Reuters

A woman walks past an anti-U.S. billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Majid Asgaripour Reuters

An Iranian woman walks next to an anti-Israeli mural on a street in Tehran, Iran, May 18, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS Majid-Asgaripour Reuters

USS Boxer (LHD 4), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, passes the Pasir Gudang port along the Johor Strait in northeastern Singapore May 19, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su Edgar Su Reuters

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 7:29 PM.

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