Donald Trump says the US was "cocked and loaded" to retaliate against Iran - but backed down at the last minute.
He claimed he stopped the attack because it would not have been a "proportionate" response after Iran downed an unmanned surveillance drone this week.
But the US President today tweeted: "We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.
"Sanctions are biting & more added last night."
in response to Iran and said 150 people would have died.
But he's now backed down.
And and wanted to hold talks with Iran amid escalating tensions and fears of a military confrontation in the Gulf of Oman.
A guided-missile cruiser, the USS Leyte Gulf, and other military assets have been put on 72-hour standby.
It would have been the world leader's third set of strikes on Middle Eastern targets in office.
The Republican, who recently launched his re-election campaign, had yesterday warned Iran had made 'a very big mistake' after the drone was shot down.
Trump was asked if the US planned a strike against Iran, and replied by saying: "You'll soon find out".
However, he added in a press conference later that he found it "hard to believe" that the drone downing was intentional.
Iranian officials said Tehran had received a message from Trump warning a US attack was imminent but that he was against war and wanted to talk.
Trump's tweets did not address whether he had sent a message to Iran's leaders but repeated his attacks on the deal secure by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. He also reiterated his stance that Iran would not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.
The escalating tensions come after Tehran on Thursday said it had shot down an unmanned U.S. military surveillance drone with a surface-to-air missile following a spate of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf region.
