Trump blames global diesel shortages on Ukraine, says Tehran wants a deal
Trump again said Sunday the conflict will end after the midterm elections.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations in June aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.
The U.S. and Iran have nonetheless continued to exchange strikes, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz as the primary flashpoint. Trump said in August that the U.S. would launch a "crushing economic operation" to force Tehran into submission.
Key Headlines
- Monday meeting between Iran, regional countries postponed, Omani FM says
- Iranian ship attacked in Strait of Hormuz, state media says
- Iraqi prime minister orders investigation into origin of strikes on Saudi pipeline, dismisses province commander
- Trump confirms call with MBS, says everything will 'work out fine and dandy'
Trump denies reports of damage to US aircraft from Iranian strikes
President Donald Trump denied reports that a U.S. military aircraft at a base in Jordan has been damaged by Iranian strikes in an interview with NewsNation Thursday morning.
"Nope… None whatsoever. No damage. No nothing," Trump said in the interview.
NewsNation then pressed Trump on the timeline for ending the war with Iran. Trump said he thinks the war will end "after the elections," but then added that it could be "maybe sooner."
"I don’t know that they’re gonna be able to hold out," Trump told NewsNation, when asked how Iran could continue holding out under the current economic pressure. "But it’ll get settled after the elections. Or maybe sooner. But it’ll get settled right after the election."
Saudi airstrikes on Houthis intensify as ground fighting continues
The Al-Masirah television channel -- controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen -- reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia struck around 40 targets across four Yemeni regions over the previous 24 hours.
Recent weeks have seen the resumption of significant fighting on Yemen's western Red Sea coast, with the Houthi rebels clashing with forces loyal to the Saudi-backed, internationally-recognized Yemeni government.
-ABC News' Victoria Beaule and Guy Davies
Trump says 'movement' detected at Pickaxe Mt., threatens new strikes
In his remarks during Wednesday's GOP midterm convention, President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. may strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, a known site for nuclear centrifuge assembly, which was not targeted in the U.S.'s initial strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"There's another place called Pickaxe Mountain. Another nice place. We may have to give them a shot there, too, because somebody said there was a little movement at the site," Trump warned.
"We noticed there's a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard. We have no choice, right?" he added.
The president also floated naming the Strait of Hormuz after himself after claiming that oil prices would come down "as soon as we win the war with Iran."
He added, "We control the Hormuz strait. I think we should call the Hormuz strait -- we should call it the Trump -- I should get something out of it -- the Trump Strait," he said as the audience cheered.
-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr
Trump says war will end and gas prices to fall after the midterms
President Donald Trump said the war will end and gas prices will come down after the midterms.
"I think the war is going to end immediately after the election. I think the war will end immediately after the election because they can't hold out any longer," he told reporters on Wednesday.