US won’t strike Iran before November midterms: Trump
File photo: REUTERS
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the US will not execute military strikes against Iran before November’s midterm congressional elections, asserting that both nations are conducting “productive” negotiations to conclude the six-month-old war.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said, “We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections to be held in the United States on 3 November.”
The war, which erupted in February when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, has depressed Trump’s domestic approval ratings and placed immense pressure on Republicans striving to maintain their slim legislative majorities in November’s election.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that about 60 percent of Americans - including one in four Republicans - disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran situation. The fighting has driven gasoline prices sharply upward right when voters rank the cost of living as their paramount concern.
Although Trump has repeatedly voiced expectations that oil prices will drop after the elections, he has not presented a detailed exit strategy for the war. Iran and the US have traded proposals in recent weeks to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime route for global energy shipments.
However, Trump rejected Tehran’s latest proposal. Citing the head of the nation’s Atomic Energy Organization, Iranian state media reported on Thursday that Tehran will not cease uranium enrichment or relinquish its uranium stockpile.
This stance followed days after US Vice President JD Vance told Reuters that Iran must make “meaningful” cuts to its enrichment capacity.
Meanwhile, the US, Israel, and Western allies have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge that Iran consistently denies.
Source: Reuters (adapted)
