Trump: “No new attack on Iran after midterms; no need to rush”

[Financial News] With the U.S. midterm elections set for the 3rd (local time), President Donald Trump said he would not rush a decision on whether to resume airstrikes on Iran after the election.
In a phone interview with the U.S. political news outlet Axios on the 2nd, he said there was “no need to rush” when asked about resuming hostilities with Iran. After delivering his final midterm election speech in Washington, D.C., that day, he was asked whether he would attack Iran again after the midterms and answered, “No.” In the Axios interview, Trump said, “We will do something one way or another, but there’s no need to rush.”
He said, “We’re talking with them, and it’s going well,” and claimed that “the urgency on Iran’s part [to reach a deal] is less than you think, but they want a deal more than ever.”
That day, Trump also posted on the social media platform Truth Social, claiming, “Oil prices are plummeting—a record drop of nearly $10 a barrel.” He added, “That’s because people feel there will be no war with Iran.” Trump continued, “Iran wants a deal, as soon as possible. [A deal] can be done!”
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which has been attacking Iran since last February, has refrained from airstrikes on mainland Iran since bombing Iranian military facilities around the Strait of Hormuz on September 1. Instead, CENTCOM is attacking Iranian oil tankers and vessels around the strait. Trump said on social media on the 8th of last month that he was having productive discussions with Iran, adding, “We will not attack Iran before the U.S. midterm elections on November 3.”
However, shortly after a campaign rally in Iowa on the 1st, Trump struck an ambiguous note, saying, “We may have to hammer Iran at some point.” The U.S. Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 29th of last month that CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper had briefed Trump on scenarios for resuming attacks on Iran.
International oil prices plunged more than 7% on the 2nd amid hopes for progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. December-delivery U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $96.46 a barrel, down 7.36% from the previous session.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said at a campaign rally supporting the midterm elections on the 2nd that several good discussions had taken place with Iran, adding, “The president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for a deal. We’ll keep working.” He also said no deadline had been set for a decision on resuming U.S. attacks on Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on the 2nd that several explosions had been heard near Qeshm Island, a military and economic strategic location in the Strait of Hormuz. The cause of the explosions has not yet been determined. That same day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had destroyed one U.S. MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) east of the Strait of Hormuz and shot down two MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm Island.
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