WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — President Donald Trump has told senior advisers in recent days that he may hold off on new strikes on Iran as long as Tehran or the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen do not provoke the United States, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Trump made the remarks in meetings with his national security team and after a series of intelligence briefings, the people said. Current and former officials say he has not settled on how to end the war, which the US and Israel launched on February 28, and has swung between threats of new strikes and talk of winding down the fighting.
He has also shown sympathy for allies in the region who have asked him not to return to full-scale war. A senior official said Trump had spoken in recent weeks to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and that both had urged restraint.
“I could end it immediately, but at the request of the nations that I am looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer way, a bit more civilly,” Trump said in an interview on Thursday.
A White House official said in a statement that Trump was “the architect and sole decision-maker who holds all the cards”. “Only President Trump knows what he will do, and when,” the official said.
Pressure from both sides
Israeli officials have continued to lobby the administration for another military campaign, a US official said. The head of Israel’s Mossad travelled to Washington this week for talks on Iran as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump to act.
At home, the war has pushed up fuel prices and lost public support. In a poll taken shortly before the November 3 midterm elections, 55% of Americans said it was not worth the cost, and Vice President JD Vance blamed it for the Republicans’ loss of Congress. On Thursday, Trump told Vance to turn his attention to domestic issues, taking him off the Iran file.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the naval blockade and sanctions are hurting Iran’s economy, and that renewed strikes would not significantly shift Tehran’s demands in negotiations, two US officials said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the economic pain on Iran meant there was no need for more US military action.
Ready to escalate
The US military is still ready to escalate if ordered, other people familiar with its planning said. A third aircraft carrier is due in the Middle East in the coming days to replace one of the two already there, although all three could stay if needed. Trump has also been briefed that some US weapons stocks have fallen to worrying levels, the people said. The White House said the military had “enough munitions and ammo” for all of Trump’s strategic goals.
Trump said on social media on Thursday that the US no longer needed a deal with Iran. “We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!” he wrote. He is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen next week, where US officials say he will raise the war.
Tension in the Strait of Hormuz remains high. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that they had shot down a US drone over Qeshm Island, and Iran’s deputy envoy to the UN warned on Friday of an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed US or Israeli attack.
