Donald Trump has said he believes the war with Iran will end “immediately” after the US midterm elections, as fighting continued to escalate this week with the biggest wave of attacks on shipping so far. Iran said on Wednesday it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the US sank five Iranian oil tankers. At least one seafarer was reported killed and another was missing.
Trump accused Iran of trying to influence the midterm election and said Tehran wanted to secure a “nice, weak group of people” who would leave it alone to develop nuclear weapons. He also warned Iran that the US could strike Pickaxe Mountain, saying: “We notice there's a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard.” Iran has also threatened to escalate its response to further attacks, with the Revolutionary Guard saying it would soon release maps of an expanded off-limits maritime zone extending towards Chabahar, near Pakistan.
The attacks sent the price of oil surging, with benchmark Brent crude futures breaching $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July. Saudi civil defence issued an emergency alert for the southwestern province of Khamis Mushait to warn of potential danger, the fourth such alert in 24 hours. The agency posted on X shortly after saying the danger had passed.
At least one seafarer aboard a tanker was reported killed and another listed as missing. Iran said it had fired ballistic missiles at a US military base in Jordan. Jordan said it intercepted 18 missiles, with the remaining two falling harmlessly in unpopulated areas.
A US official said all American troops were accounted for. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would sharply escalate its response to any further attacks, and said Iran would soon release maps of a new, enlarged off-limits zone at sea that would extend as far as Chabahar on the coast near Pakistan. President Trump said Iran is desperate to end the war and wants to impact the result of the midterm election in the US.
"I think the war will end immediately after the election, because they can't hold out any longer," the president told reporters. "They're desperate to try and affect the election so we can get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon." "All they want is a nuclear weapon and if they had a nuclear weapon the whole world is in deep trouble," he said. Trump said he is still not looking to negotiate with Tehran in the near future, before the midterms.
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