President Donald Trump said the conflict with Iran was close to being finished and dismissed concerns that Washington planned to broaden military action after the midterm elections. Speaking at the White House, he said Israel and U.S. partners in the Gulf had sufficient protection from Tehran and that a further escalation was unnecessary.
Trump made the comments after meeting in the Oval Office with Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Qatar and other Gulf states have urged the U.S. administration not to restart major hostilities against Iran, according to Trump’s remarks.
Trump said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and other regional governments favored keeping the present approach. He described that approach as leaving the blockade intact rather than moving into a renewed offensive.
That posture includes the continuing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. Trump also pointed to Task Force Iron Gate, a newly announced effort aimed at restricting commerce moving over land routes and through the Caspian Sea.
At the same time, Trump left open the possibility that U.S. forces could resume combat operations if circumstances required it. He said the administration was seeing progress toward ending the conflict and suggested it could conclude soon.
His comments came after repeated claims during the nearly nine-month war that a final settlement with Iran was close. Trump has often overstated the state of talks with Tehran, saying on numerous occasions that a peace agreement was imminent.
In the period before the midterm elections, the US continued sending additional troops to the Middle East. That deployment had fueled expectations that the administration might delay renewed military action until after voting, in an effort to avoid political damage.
Republicans still suffered a major electoral defeat, losing control of both chambers of Congress. Vice-President JD Vance later said the Iran war had been a central factor in the party’s losses.
