Trump: “Positive momentum” toward ending Iran war; low likelihood of attacks resuming

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 9th (local time), regarding the Iran war, “We are seeing positive momentum toward ending this conflict.”
Trump wrote this in a post on the social media platform Truth Social after meeting Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House that day.
He also said, “If there is any change in developments in the Middle East, the United States is locked and loaded and ready to act,” adding, “But at this point, that seems very unlikely.”
He stressed, “Israel and the Middle East as a whole are protected from Iran’s dangers and threats.”
Before the midterm elections, Trump had vowed that he could launch a “short but powerful” military attack on Iran after the election, but since the Republican Party suffered a crushing defeat amid dissatisfaction over the Iran war, he has said the likelihood of resuming attacks is low.
Reuters reported that in a phone interview that day, Trump said, “We are ready to act whenever we want,” but added that Qatar and Saudi Arabia “would prefer to see a peaceful resolution,” suggesting he had no intention of rushing to resume military attacks.
In an interview with CBS’s current affairs program “60 Minutes,” recorded on the 6th and aired the previous day, he had also ruled out resuming attacks, saying, “I have no intention of doing that. I don’t think there’s any reason to.”
In a Truth Social post that day, Trump said, “Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries prefer maintaining the status quo—that is, continuing the historically greatest ‘naval blockade’ and the new ‘Operation Iron Gate.’”
The implication is that he intends to continue the isolation campaign against Iran through a naval blockade targeting ships traveling to and from Iranian ports and along its coast in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a “land blockade”—an operation launched by U.S. Central Command on the 7th to prevent the transport of weapons and other goods overland.
Trump also said, “All countries in the Middle East agree that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. There is no room for negotiation on this.”


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs correspondent Reporter