Source : BRICS NEWS
WASHINGTON, November 3 – United States President Donald Trump has said the US has no plans to strike Iran after the midterm elections, as shared by BRICS News on X.
Asked by reporters after a speech at the Washington Reflecting Pool on Monday (November 2) whether he was considering striking Iran after the elections, Mr Trump replied “No”, according to Reuters and NBC News.
The answer marked a shift in tone. In recent weeks Mr Trump had hinted at renewing attacks on Iran once the midterms were over, and US media had reported that he had been presented with options for resuming major combat operations.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump told Axios in a phone interview that he was “in no rush” to decide. “One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush. We crippled them financially. They have no money, no gasoline and their people are getting very tired of it,” he said.
He said talks with Tehran were “going fine” and that Iran wanted “to make a deal more than they ever wanted”. Separately, he wrote on Truth Social: “Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!”
Axios reported that Mr Trump is weighing three courses of action. One camp, including Mr Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, is urging him towards a deal. Another, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, wants combat to resume. A third, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, favours keeping up economic pressure without a deal or a war, according to the outlet.
Mr Rubio said on Saturday (October 31) that the President had not made a decision on further strikes and that Washington preferred to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Iranian negotiators had spent several days in Doha in talks with Qatari mediators aimed at a deal to end the war. Axios reported that Qatari mediators had written a draft agreement setting out confidence-building measures to resume direct US-Iran negotiations.
Vice President JD Vance said he and the President felt “pretty good about the prospects” of a negotiated settlement, adding that no deadline had been set for resuming strikes.
The war with Iran has been a leading cause of high fuel prices weighing on American voters. Oil prices posted their sharpest one-day fall in three months on Monday as hopes of a diplomatic solution grew.
Speaking at the same event, Mr Trump insisted that Tehran would never obtain nuclear weapons, according to Anadolu Agency, and urged voters to keep his administration’s efforts on Iran in mind when they cast their ballots.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that talks through mediators including Qatar and Pakistan were intensive, and that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within two days if Iran’s conditions were met.
Mr Trump had said on social media last month that the US would not attack Iran before the November 3 midterm elections.
Americans vote on Tuesday (November 3) in midterm elections that will decide control of the US Congress.
Source: BRICS News on X
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