Mediators and U.S. officials see little movement toward ending the U.S.-Iran war, even after President Donald Trump called off a strike planned for Tuesday and then warned that force remains on the table, leaving an off-ramp from the conflict uncertain as both sides hold to incompatible terms, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump said Monday in a post on Truth Social that he was holding off on the attack because Gulf leaders had urged him to let negotiations continue and believed an acceptable deal was near. He cast the pause as a positive development while telling the Pentagon to be ready for a full-scale assault if no agreement is reached.

“I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place,” he said in part.

The diplomacy, mediated by Pakistan, centers on a memorandum that would end the war, address Iran’s nuclear program, and restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has sought relief from U.S. sanctions, the release of frozen assets, a continued role over the strait, and an end to hostilities, while the United States has pressed for deep curbs on Iran’s nuclear work, including its enriched uranium stockpile.

Those gaps have not closed.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Monday that Tehran was not intimidated but that talks remained ongoing, adding that Iran had responded to a new U.S. proposal.

Iranian officials have also disputed Washington’s account of who sought negotiations.

Vice President JD Vance, speaking at the White House on Tuesday, said he believes Iran wants an agreement but cautioned against assuming one is close.

“But I will not say with confidence that we’re going to reach a deal until we’re actually signing a negotiated settlement here,” he said.

The risks of renewed fighting were underscored Sunday, when a drone struck an electrical generator near the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi, sparking a fire.

Authorities reported no injuries or radiation leak and called it a terrorist attack.

The UAE Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the drone, along with two others that were intercepted, originated from Iraqi territory, and that air defenses had engaged six drones over a 48-hour span.

The war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, has left the Strait of Hormuz, a passage for about a fifth of the world’s oil, largely closed to shipping and driven up energy prices.

The Journal reported that U.S. and Israeli forces have struck more than 20,000 targets across Iran without forcing Tehran to yield and that Iran has fired thousands of drones and missiles at Gulf states, including more than 2,800 at the UAE.