Following reports from both nations regarding vessel attacks in or near the Strait of Hormuz, United States President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that he is highly unlikely to authorize strikes against Iran while diplomatic negotiations remain ongoing.
Speaking to CNN in a phone interview, Trump said, “It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement, the answer is, highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary.”
Trump noted that should hostilities resume, the U.S. has prepared a list of potential infrastructure targets, specifically citing 38 bridges that could be dismantled within an hour. CNN’s report did not disclose the specific questions posed to the president during the exchange.
Later on Sunday afternoon, Trump posted on Truth Social that “Task Force Iron Gate is in full force and effect” concerning Iran. Initially uncovered by Reuters on Saturday, the strategy focuses on disrupting Tehran’s cross-border and Caspian Sea transportation routes used for smuggling sanctioned commodities and advanced weaponry.
Following last week’s U.S. midterm elections, Trump acknowledged that the Iran-US conflict played a role in the Republican party’s losses.
However, Vice President JD Vance—widely considered a leading contender to succeed Trump when his term ends in two years—went further, asserting explicitly in a social media post, “The reason we lost is the war.”
Qatar PM Meeting
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday.
This meeting marks Trump’s first diplomatic engagement with a foreign leader since the Republican Party lost control of Congress following a decisive midterm defeat.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested that peace talks have been temporarily paused while Tehran assesses the political fallout from the U.S. election results.
“For the past few days, there has been no more travel (by mediators), and the reason for this is the shock that the election results in the United States have caused to everyone,” Araghchi told state television.
“We now have to see how long it will take for them to digest these results, in order to determine how we are going to move forward,” he added.
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