In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had decided to cancel impending military strikes on Iran. This decision came shortly after he had previously threatened to intensify the conflict by taking over Iran’s oil industry.

Trump shared via social media that his decision was influenced by recent high-level discussions with Iranian leadership, which had received approval from top Iranian officials.

The statement followed a tense two-day period of exchanges between the U.S. and Iran, which had brought the Middle East perilously close to reigniting a full-scale conflict.

Earlier, Trump had taken to social media to declare that the United States was prepared to strike Iran “VERY HARD” and assume “total control” of the nation’s oil and gas sectors. However, he later indicated that diplomatic talks had progressed, potentially extending the tenuous ceasefire.

He elaborated that the discussions and their core elements had been agreed upon in principle and detail by the United States, Israel, and other regional partners, though he withheld specific information.

Trump on multiple occasions over the last several weeks has claimed that the warring parties have been on the cusp of a deal without anything coming to fruition.

Trump’s most recent threats were the latest example of him voicing frustration with the stalled negotiations to end the war. He warned earlier in the week that Tehran would “pay the price” for taking too long to reach a deal.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that “wrong strategies and impulsive decisions” would wreak havoc on energy markets and “create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years.”

While the most recent strikes have increased tensions in the region, they have been more limited compared to the early weeks of the war and negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are ongoing.

Trump’s threats on Thursday represented his latest verbal escalation in the Iran war. In April, he warned Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if it didn’t agree to his terms, before extending a ceasefire.

Trump threatened to seize Iran’s main oil terminal

Iran’s monthslong stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other basics more expensive well beyond the region.

Trump had threatened Thursday to seize Kharg Island, the heart of Iran’s oil industr, through which 90% of its exports pass. Located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from U.S. bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the island is important because Iran’s coastline is mostly too shallow for tanker ships to dock.

It was unclear how serious Trump was about his threat to seize it.

“My preference has always been to take Kharg Island,” Trump said in an interview Thursday on Fox News. “I don’t know that America has the stomach for it to be honest.”

American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island because of its proximity – about 33 kilometers (21 miles) – to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired.

Trump indicated in the interview that he remains averse to sending U.S. forces into Iran.

“I don’t want to have boots on the ground,” Trump said. “But if I wanted to we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the place.”

Trump compared his threat to take over Iran’s oil industry to how the U.S. assumed control of Venezuela’s oil sector after capturing then-president Nicolás Maduro in January.

Iran says US attacks have made ceasefire meaningless’

Back-and-forth strikes rattled the Middle East for the third time this week. The first involved attacks between Iran and Israel, followed by the two rounds of fire between the U.S. and Iran, which targeted countries were U.S. troops are based.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said airstrikes ending early Thursday targeted Iran’s military surveillance, communications and air defense sites.

Explosions echoed around Iran’s capital, as well as the port city of Bandar Abbas and other southern areas along the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said sites hit included a manufacturing complex, a military barracks and a local Guard base outside Tehran.

Tehran said it fired back at Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

Kuwait closed its airspace for several hours but did not report any damage. Jordan said it intercepted 20 Iranian missiles fired toward a base hosting U.S. troops, though no one was hurt.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said an 11-year-old girl was hurt and cars and homes were damaged by debris from intercepted Iranian strikes.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. attacks had “effectively rendered the ceasefire … meaningless,” without saying it was abandoning it.

Tensions persist over Iran’s nuclear program, Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post that the U.S. would extract funds from frozen Iranian accounts to offset the costs of damage to American allies and any tolls Iran imposes for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

Beyond the deadlock over the strait, the two sides also remain at odds over Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran insists its nuclear efforts are peaceful. The U.S. and Israel fear Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium could be used to build an atomic weapon.

Iran has insisted that any deal to end the war must also end fighting in Lebanon between its ally militia Hezbollah and Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing his goal of destroying the militant group.

Iranian student says hope dwindles as attacks escalate

A 25-year-old student in northern Iran says Iranians are fearing “chaos” amid the war with the U.S. and Israel and multiplying crises at home.

The student, who lives in the city of Babol, said many Iranians are struggling to afford groceries in the face of mass job losses and triple-digit food inflation. He spoke on the condition of anonymity out of security fears.

“Everything is going wrong and there is no hope among the people,” the student added.

The student first spoke to The Associated Press before the war when he participated in widespread anti-government protests. He now says his chief concern is that Iran “maintain territorial integrity and deterrence” in the face of attacks by the U.S. and Israel.

US fires on another merchant ship to enforce blockade

The U.S. military’s Central Command said Thursday that it struck a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker attempting to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports. It said the M/T Jalveer was transporting Iranian oil when it was disabled late Wednesday after its crew failed to obey U.S. orders.

It’s the ninth merchant vessel the U.S. military says it disabled to enforce the blockade.

Three Indian sailors were killed when American forces struck the Palau-flagged M/T Settebello on Tuesday, India’s minister overseeing ports and shipping said Thursday on X.

U.S. Central Command said American forces issued warnings before firing on the ship, which it accused of trying to evade the blockade.

The leader of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, condemned the attack.

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Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Collin Binkley, Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin in Washington; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Victoria Eastwood and Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

The inaugural match of the 2026 World Cup in Mexico City was overshadowed by turmoil outside the stadium as clashes erupted between demonstrators and riot police, with one individual experiencing a severe medical crisis.

While the celebratory atmosphere filled the renowned 87,000-capacity Mexico City Stadium, commonly referred to as Estadio Azteca, unsettling events unfolded just beyond its perimeter, away from the global spotlight.

According to observations by the Daily Mail, chaos ensued as protesters, reportedly including relatives of those missing due to the Mexican drug conflict, attempted to storm the stadium but were met with resistance from law enforcement.

A mere ten minutes before the Mexico-South Africa kickoff, a large group of protesters advanced from the northeast, aiming to penetrate the stadium’s inner security zone.

The demonstrators hurled flares and stones at officers and caused damage to a truck parked nearby. Riot police swiftly responded from Gate C, driving back the crowd along their approach route by deploying tear gas and returning the projectiles.

On social media, the numbers were estimated at 2,000 protesters and approximately 300 riot police, plus a mounted unit at Gate 8 of the stadium. 

Protesters attempt to breach the Mexico City stadium but are stopped by a line of riot police

A demonstrator waves a stick in front of riot police during violent protests outside the stadium

A police chief gives information to lines of riot police blocking protesters from getting past

Inside the stadium, the contrast was stark as Mexico scored an early goal in the opening game

As the carnage unfolded from outside, the cheering from the start of the game inside could be heard in stark contrast. 

There was also another – unrelated – tragic incident reported outside the stadium, after video was shared online of a man who appeared to have suffered a heart attack.

Widely-shared clips showed him receiving CPR from a group of medics after he suffered the health emergency on his way into the stadium to watch the game. 

The Secretariat of Citizen Security of Mexico City later reported that the man was rushed to hospital and is now in a stable condition. 

After the game had kicked off and the initial violence outside had been quelled, lines of riot police were lined up inside the gates of the stadium to protect those inside.

An extra border of security was set up and the Daily Mail witnessed a police women, slipping in and out of consciousness, being taken away with a bleeding gash on her head. 

Carnage erupted outside the Mexico City Stadium as protesters fought with riot police

The unsavory scenes unfolded as the first game of the World Cup kicked off just meters away

Ahead of the opening game it was reported that eight simultaneous protests had been planned around Mexico City, purposely coinciding with the start of the World Cup.

Per multiple reports, the groups expected to mobilize included heartbroken families of those affected by the ongoing drug war between the cartels and law enforcement, the CNTE (teachers’ union), Federal Judiciary workers, transport workers, healthcare workers, and farmers’ organizations.

There was a heavy police presence around the vicinity of the stadium as police anticipated unrest and attempted to shut it down quickly.

When the violence unfolded, four metro stops were immediately closed on the Mexico City Metro Line, while protesters knocked down multiple guardrails outside the stadium.

Clara Brugada Molina, the head of government of Mexico City, had earlier made no attempt to stop the protests from occurring, claiming that ‘this is a city where these events can coincide’, referencing the planned demonstrations.

‘There is a right to protest as well as to experience the joy of living a World Cup,’ she said, per MVS Noticias.

Inside the stadium, the World Cup got off to a flying start with an opening ceremony headlined by Shakira, before the team itself scored inside the opening 10 minutes of the game.