• Strikes called off: US President Donald Trump announced he is canceling a planned attack on Iran, citing progress in talks. He said the pause is contingent on “being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran, people familiar with the matter said
• Iran FM on war:Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran would respond forcefully to any further American “aggression,” in calls with regional counterparts
• Travel warning:The State Department earlier cautioned Americans in the Middle East, saying they should consider departing now. It also renewed warnings that those in the region should “be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions.”
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Announcing the cancellation of the planned strikes on Iran, US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran and “other Middle Eastern countries” asked him to hold off
Earlier in the day, raised concerns about potential new US attacks
CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, a former US Air Force colonel, said both Riyadh and Tehran need to avoid an escalation of hostilities in the region
The Saudis are under pressure to get the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of their oil and other exports flow, reopened, Leighton said. “They’re economically at risk here,” he said
Leighton noted that the Saudis, as a key US ally in the Persian Gulf, carry significant sway with Trump
Iran is also facing economic challenges from the closure of the strait
But the military pressure on Tehran – after more than five months of war – has been taking a toll, he said, and the Iranians could use some relief
“If it’s true that … there was pressure from Iran, then I think the Iranians are probably buying some time,” he said
“They are certainly under some degree of pressure economically as well as militarily. But I also know that they are ready to, in essence, survive as much as they can,” Leighton said
A woman looks at the site of an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he is canceling a planned attack on Iran, citing progress in talks
His comments came as no strikes have been reported from the US inside Iran in several days. US officials previously said fresh strikes could take place as soon as this weekend
Trump said he agreed to requests by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that he hold off from further attacks, and that the pause remains contingent on “being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”Earlier, CNN reported that Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a call with the president and raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran, according to multiple people familiar with the matter
A look at the latest headlines:
- US diplomatic officials renewed their warnings to American citizens in the Middle East, saying they should exercise caution and vigilance amid heightened tensions in the region.
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that the country would respond forcefully to any further American “aggression.” In calls with regional counterparts on Saturday, he said Iran would respond in kind to any “adventurous action” by the United States.
- Iran also warned Gulf states that host American military bases, with Major Gen. Ali Abdollahi threatening that nations cooperating with the US “will burn in the fires of war.”
- A teenager arrested in January during widespread anti-regime protests in Iran was executed Saturday, according to a US-based activist organization.
- Global oil and gas prices have been rising again following renewed tensions between the US and Iran. The average price of gas in the US was over $4 on Saturday.
- Israeli strikes on Gaza left a huge crater at a hospital, local authorities said, days after Trump announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to advance a ceasefire plan. Israel said it targeted Hamas weapon storage facilities in strikes across the Palestinian enclave.
CNN’s Izzy Lippolis, Jennifer Hansler, Sophie Tanno, Max Saltman, Abeer Salman, Ibrahim Dahman, Brad Lendon, Aida Karimi, Kevin Liptak and Zachary Cohen contributed reporting
President Donald Trump gives thumbs-up as he walks to board Marine One following his arrival aboard Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, on Friday.
President Donald Trump said Saturday night that the US is canceling a planned attack on Iran, citing progress in talks
Trump said the US “is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but that he agreed to requests by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries “to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”
Trump said the proposed agreement would include the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.” He added that Israel joins him in the pause in strikes, which remains contingent on “being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for more details
Trump’s comments come as no strikes have been reported from the US inside Iran in several days, after the US launched what the president described as a “heavy wave of strikes” targeting the country Wednesday
US President Donald Trump greets Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman at the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025.
President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on Saturday, according to four people familiar with the matter and a regional source
Prince Mohammed bin Salman reinforced Saudi Arabia’s desire for de-escalation during the call and raised concerns about plans for potential strikes on Iran, multiple people familiar with the matter said
Officials from mediating nations, including Qatar and Pakistan, have been urgently working to stave off a new escalation in the conflict, fielding calls with officials from Iran and the United States, including Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, according to three people familiar with the matter
An immediate goal has been to work out an arrangement between Iran and Oman to allow commercial traffic to resume flowing through the Strait of Hormuz
CNN previously reported that the US was planning fresh strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, citing two officials familiar with the plans
“We will be hitting them very hard,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Friday. “At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”
Earlier in the week, US and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple sites in Iraq after drones were launched from Iranian-backed militias there toward Saudi Arabia
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran would respond forcefully to any further American “aggression” in calls with regional counterparts on Saturday
Araghchi held separate calls with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to posts on the Iranian foreign minister’s Telegram channel, warning that Iran would respond in kind to any “adventurous action” by the United States
Fidan also noted the call on his social media, writing that the two officials “discussed the latest status of the ongoing negotiation process.”
In a post reporting a call with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Araghchi said that Iran would respond decisively and proportionally to “any aggression” from the US, Israel or other countries in the region
Last week, Araghchi wrote on social media that Iran’s defense strategy is an “eye for an eye” response against any attacks on its infrastructure
The US State Department has broadly warned Americans in the Middle East to “consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation.”
The State Department also renewed warnings that those in the region should “exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions.”
US citizens planning to travel to the Middle East should seriously reconsider, the advisory said
Israeli strike leaves crater at Gaza hospital, destroys medical supplies
Israeli strikes on Gaza left a huge crater at a hospital less than 48 hours after US President Donald Trump announced Hamas and Israel had agreed to advance a ceasefire plan, local authorities said. The attack destroyed vital medical supplies, demolished two medical warehouses at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and damaged two others CNN’s Abeer Salman reports
1:22• Source:
CNN
Israeli strike leaves crater at Gaza hospital, destroys medical supplies
1:22
Israel says it targeted Hamas weapon storage facilities in overnight strikes across Gaza, including onethat left a huge crater at a hospital in central Gaza
Video from the scene showed medical supplies strewn across a wide area, as well as damage to multiple canvas tents and metal structures
Palestinians stand by a crater, after an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on Saturday.
In a statement, the Israeli military alleged Kalashnikov rifles, explosive devices and other military equipment were stored at the locations, and said a storage facility adjacent to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital — the site of the large crater — was used “as a hideout by Hamas terrorists.”
CNN is unable to verify that the structure was being used by Hamas. When asked to back up the claim, an Israeli military strike happened based on intelligence information.”
A nurse who works at the hospital told CNN he was shocked to find the warehouse completely destroyed, as it had contained crucial dialysis supplies provided by UNICEF just three days previously
A humanitarian, affecting more than 1,000 patients
Hospitals in Gaza are already facing massive shortages in vital medical supplies as humanitarian organizations struggle to deliver re
CNN’s Farida Elsebai contributed reporting
The conflict in Gaza was thrust into greater focus this week when US President Donald Trump announced a potential breakthrough in diplomatic efforts. Key questions remain, however, and Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday have added further uncertainty to the state of the agreement
Here’s a closer look at the control of territory in the Palestinian enclave:
