President Donald Trump said he expects the war with Iran to end after the November US midterm elections, even as he renewed threats to strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site. The remarks came after Iran and the US launched their biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the six-month-old war began, sending Brent crude above $100 a barrel.
Trump told reporters he expects the war to end once the November midterm elections are decided, arguing Tehran is trying to influence the vote that will determine whether his party keeps control of Congress. The remarks came as fighting intensified on two fronts, from the Strait of Hormuz to Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen.
Trump ties the war's end to the midterms
According to Reuters: "We notice there's a little activity at Pickaxe." The war and the resulting rise in fuel prices have pushed Trump's popularity to record lows, and he has set deadlines for the war to end before.
But the outlook inside his own administration is less certain. The Wall Street Journal reported that top advisers, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have privately warned Trump the conflict could extend through the remainder of his presidency, which ends in January 2029; Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Pickaxe Mountain threat resurfaces
Trump also said the US may hit Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified Iranian site that hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility. He has been threatening strikes on the site since at least mid-July. The US and Israel struck Iran in February partly over concerns about Tehran's nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes.
Shipping routes strained as fighting spreads
Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the US sank five Iranian oil tankers, part of a tit-for-tat exchange that has shown little sign of easing. Just seven vessels transited the strait, half the 10-day average, even though the route carried about a fifth of oil supplies before the war.
The conflict has also widened into a second front. Saudi civil defence authorities issued emergency alerts in Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours as clashes flared with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, and at least 73 people were wounded across four southern Saudi cities in recent Houthi attacks. The Houthis said they hit an air base and oil infrastructure near Khamis Mushait, one of the biggest strikes on Saudi Arabia since the war began.
Source: Investing.com
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