President Donald Trump has ordered a halt to the 13-day air campaign against Iran and postponed plans for a significant military escalation, following warnings from senior US commanders that the operations are rapidly depleting Patriot interceptor missiles and other air-defence munitions in the Middle East. The decision, taken after a high-level White House meeting on Friday, was confirmed by sources familiar with the discussions. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine privately advised that a return to major combat operations — while feasible — would "dangerously drain" the interceptors available to Central Command, the New York Times and CNN reported.

Within the Trump administration, the threat to munitions stockpiles is only one factor shaping the rethink. Vice President JD Vance and other senior officials are said to have raised concerns about a wider regional war, the alienation of vulnerable Gulf allies, and the global economic fallout from extended hostilities. Close advisers, including Jared Kushner, are backing a dual-track approach of sustained diplomacy and economic pressure. In Tehran, the army's chief spokesman announced that Iran had suspended its retaliatory strikes on US bases and regional targets in response to the American pause. A senior Iranian source cited by Reuters said Tehran's position remains "attack for attack", adding that the prevailing assessment is that the US move is "tactical rather than genuine".

The lull has revived tentative diplomatic contacts led by Oman, focusing on the Strait of Hormuz — the transit chokepoint whose effective closure by Iranian forces has paralysed global crude flows. Yet even as US-Iranian strikes subsided, the conflict widened when Yemen's Houthi rebels, supplied by Tehran, launched drone and missile attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities at Yanbu and Jizan on Saturday, after Saudi Arabia bombed Houthi targets. The Red Sea assault threatens to disrupt a key alternative export route for Saudi crude, with Brent prices having already surged 27% in two weeks to nearly $97 a barrel.

The war, now in its fifth month, began after the collapse of a tentative ceasefire over Iranian harassment of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Although Trump declared US forces "locked and loaded" on Friday, he held off ordering a wider bombing campaign that Pentagon planners had readied, targeting Iranian coastal radars, missile launchers and strategic infrastructure. White House communications director Steven Cheung said Trump "prefers a diplomatic solution" but retains all options. With US midterm elections approaching, the political cost of an intractable conflict is mounting in Washington. The Pentagon says military operations against Iran are currently "on a hold", while US diplomats continue back-channel contacts. The next decision point is expected to hinge on whether mediators can secure guarantees on the free passage of vessels through Hormuz.