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United States (US) President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was highly unlikely to order fresh attacks on Iran as long as talks to end the conflict progress, even as both countries reported that shipping had been hit in or near the Strait of Hormuz. “It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement,” Trump told CNN in a phone interview. “The answer is, highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary.”
CNN did not specify exactly what it had asked Trump, who also said that if strikes resume, the US has identified potential infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges “that we can knock down in literally one hour.”
Later on Sunday afternoon, Trump posted on Truth Social that “Task Force Iron Gate is in full force and effect” on Iran. The campaign, first reported by Reuters on Saturday, will crack down on Tehran’s movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material over its land borders and through the Caspian Sea.
Trump acknowledged after last week’s US midterm elections that the Iran war was part of the reason for the Republicans’ defeat, while Vice President JD Vance, seen as a potential successor to Trump when his term ends in two years, went a step further, saying definitively in a social media post, “The reason we lost is the war.”
Trump told reporters on Sunday that “a lot of people did not like Vance’s comments on Iran.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, widely considered another contender to succeed Trump, declined to comment on Sunday on a link between the war and the elections.
“All I can tell you is that the president of the United States identified a very real threat to this country that existed for a very long period of time, and he addressed it,” Rubio told reporters.
Asked separately about diplomatic efforts to end the war, Rubio said he did not believe a breakthrough was imminent. “The president would always prefer to solve this and every problem diplomatically. Sometimes that’s not possible, unfortunately. But if there's a chance to do it. We’ll explore it. Right now, it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic,” Rubio said.
Trump to meet Qatari PM
President Donald Trump is set to meet the prime minister of key mediator Qatar as efforts to end the Iran war ramp up following last week’s midterm elections, though senior US and Gulf officials cast doubt on the chances of an imminent deal.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is both prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, will meet Trump and Vice President JD Vance in Washington later on Monday after having visited Tehran last week.
Iran’s proposal to end the war involves an end to the US blockade of its ports, the lifting of some sanctions and a halt to bombing in return for Tehran stopping its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with talks on its nuclear programme and other sanctions to follow.
The US has repeatedly rejected that plan, which Iran has said could be condensed to a two-day timeframe. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei defended the plan on Monday as the most reasonable offer on the table.
