WASHINGTON -- President Trump on Tuesday said he had canceled all meetings with Iran's leaders, entreated Iranians protesting their government to overthrow the regime and declared that "HELP IS ON ITS WAY."
Just three days later, Trump signaled there would be no imminent strikes on Iran. The U.S. president, who appeared to have taken the country to the cusp of war, was pulling back from a military intervention as long as Tehran didn't execute more demonstrators.
The pause was the culmination of nearly a week of escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, during which the U.S.'s regional allies warned Trump that a bombing campaign might lead to a wider conflict and senior U.S. military officials prepared for a strike order Wednesday that never came.
The prospect of an attack, less than two weeks after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, rattled leaders in capitals across the world, who feared that Trump's penchant for quick aerial strikes could spark another protracted conflict in the Middle East while failing to dislodge the Iranian regime.
The U.S. is sending an aircraft-carrier strike group, additional jet fighters and missile defenses to the region, in a sign that bombs could still fall shortly after their arrival. But asked by reporters Friday whether American help for protesters was still on the way as promised, Trump said he alone decided not to issue an attack order.
"Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself," he said. "They didn't hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact."
Trump's repeated posts on social media in support of protesters set off a guessing game as to whether he would consider hitting Iran again. Last June, he vowed to give Iran up to two weeks to negotiate over its nuclear program -- before striking the country well before that deadline lapsed. He had already decided to send B-2 bombers and a cruise-missile-carrying submarine to attack three Iranian nuclear sites when he set the original deadline, leading some people to suspect a similar ruse this time around.
Striking Iran's nuclear facilities in a one-and-done operation was a far less challenging mission than using force to compel an authoritarian regime in Tehran to heed its restive population or even yield power.
Trump was advised of the daunting prospects of regime change, The Wall Street Journal reported, even after repeatedly saying the U.S. would support what some labeled a new Iranian revolution. Now critics fear for the future of protesters who had been emboldened by Trump's call to action.